Ramzan Kadyrov
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Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov (Russian: Рамзан Ахмадович Кадыров) (born 5 October 1976, Tsenteroi, Chechnya) is the Prime Minister of the Russian republic of Chechnya since March 2006. He is the son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004. As well as being Prime Minister, he is the head of a private army known as the Kadyrovtsy, whose brutal administration of Russian rule allowed Moscow to reduce its military presence in the republic. Kadyrov, already the most powerful figure in Chechnya, is expected to replace Alu Alkhanov as president in October when he turns 30, the minimum age for the post.
Kadyrov has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was awarded the Hero of Russia medal, the highest honorary title of the Russian Federation, by him; however, it is rumored recent unauthorised military maneuvers carried out by Kadyrov and his apparent Islamist leaning have angered the Kremlin. He is also engaged in a power struggle for overall military authority with fellow Chechen government warlords Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiev, with all three representing separate political interests and with connections to rival Russian intelligence services. Russia's regular forces in Chechnya often complain about harassment and even armed attacks by Kadyrov's former rebels, and according to some reports as of 2006 they're largely confined to their bases because of this. Some media reports indicate Ramzan managed to build "the first centralized state in Chechen history" independent of Russia in all but name -- in full control of the money being sent from Moscow, as well as the republic's oil industry.
Despite having only a few classes of elementary education, he is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural SciencesIt has nothing to do with Russian Academy of Sciences. Among the businesses Kadyrov controls is a boxing club called Ramzan, and the Moscow-based Terek Grozny soccer team; controversional former American boxer Malik Abdul Aziz, also known as Mike Tyson, was a guest in the boxing tournament organised by Kadyrov in Gudermes.
Political career
Ramzan Kadyrov had fought against the federal forces in the First Chechen War but defected to them in the beginning of the Second Chechen War. After his father, Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic. Before this, Ramzan led the Kadyrov clan's militia with support from Russia's FSB state security service, including the service's ID cards; he was falsely rumored to have died of a gunshot wound on 28 April, 2004.
After his sister had been detained by the Dagestan police in January 2005, Ramzan and some 150 armed men drove to Khasavyurt GOVD building. According to the city mayor Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against the wall and beating them, after which they left the building with Zulai Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air." It was not the only intrusion by the Kadyrovtsy into the territory of a neighbouring Russian republic; according to the anti-Kadyrov opposition, a detachment of his "guard" was even sent to Uzbekistan to participate in the Andijan massacre.
In late 2005 Ramzan declared that "the world's largest mosque" would be built in place of the demolished ruins of Grozny's downtown, and that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it will be also "the wealthiest and the most peaceful place in the world". He also claimed the war is "already over" with only 150 "bandits" remaining (contradicting the official figures of 700 to 2,000 active duty rebel fighters). According to Kadyrov, thanks to his father 7,000 separatists had defected to the Russian side since 1999, and the main rebel activity is now outside the borders of Chechnya. When his first son was born in November, the region enjoyed a public holiday, marked by all-night salutes of machinegun fire that left civilians cowering in their basements.
Prime Minister
Following a car accident in December 2005 in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured Ramzan has been functioning as the caretaker acting prime minister. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of Sharia law, such as declaring Jihad on "terrorists", banning gambling and alcohol production and usage, and speaking in favor of polygamy. In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons and an accusation of "spying", he banned Danish citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council, the largest NGO in the region. He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by Moscow, a rare example of federal intervention in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.
On March 1 2006 Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency: "I resigned on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government because I sincerely believe that this decision is right." The next Islamist decree of Kadyrov was forcing women to wear headscarves; he also rejected a federal proposition of the republic's budget, demanding much more money, and called for almost all federal forces to be withdrawn.
On March 13, 2006, the Chechen separatist website Daymokh published a cell phone video of an allegedly drunken Kadyrov with prostitutes in Moscow. [link] Ramzan's aides have laughed off the scandal, which involves grainy footage of a man identical in appearance and voice to Ramzan cavorting in a sauna with two prostitutes, as a "provocation." The Chechen government publicly dismissed the clip and a criminal case into the 'defamation of a government official' has reportedly been opened.
On April 17, 2006, Ramzan Kadyrov, widely seen as the republic's president in waiting, has approved a project to erect a presidential palace on a 30-acre plot by the Sunzha River in ruined downtown Grozny. The compound, which will also include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, will cost an estimated 1.5 billion rubles ($54 million) to build. Two days later, on April 19, Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered about Chechnya to be closed down. "None of these people want to return home. Their actions have political shades," Kadyrov said at a meeting with municipal and district leaders from around Chechnya. "I would call them international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilize the situation in our region."
On April 28, 2006, security forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov had fought a gun battle with the bodyguards of the pro-Russian president, Alu Alkhanov, according to the Russian and foreign newspapers. Two men were reportedly killed and four injured in the clash at the presidential administration, sparking fears of a broader power struggle between the groups of Chechen mercenaries who control the republic on behalf of the Russian authorities. The exchange of fire happened during a meeting between Alkhanov and a Russian official, Sergei Stepashin. The Moskovski Komsomolets newspaper reported that Alkhanov had banned Kadyrov from bringing more than two men of his private army with him into meetings; it reported that Kadyrov had rung Alkhanov and given him 30 minutes to flee the presidential administration as his men wanted to storm it. Both sides called for reinforcements and there was further shooting before the situation was defused. It was also reported that there was another incident, in which members of an OMON unit based at the Grozny railway station had exchanged fire with and then jailed a group of Kadyrovtsy. This incident outraged Kadyrov, who then ordered his men to shoot to kill anyone who stood in their way and reportedly called Alkhanov to warn him that there would be a "war" if his men were further provoked.
The next day, on April 29, Ramzan Kadyrov officially disbanded his security service, Russian agencies reported. "These structures are no longer existent, and those calling themselves 'Kadyrovtsy' are impostors and must be punished in accordance with the law," Kadyrov was quoted as telling a television station in Chechnya. "Two battalions of Interior Ministry troops, codenamed North and South, have been formed from these fighters, they have their own commanders and generals, and from now on have nothing to do with Kadyrov." Kadyrov is lionised by compliant Chechen media, and his every move features in local television reports.
On June 5, 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency. Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in human rights protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody," Abdurakhmanov said. On June 4 President Alu Alkhanov said he would prefer his republic be governed by Sharia law and suggested adapting the Islamic code, as it is championed by Kadyrov; he also dismissed reports of conflicts with Ramzan.
Accusations of atrocities
As the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service, Kadyrov has often been accused of being brutal, ruthless and anti-democratic; according to media, he was personally implicated in several instances of torture and murder.
- German human rights group the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), which branded Kadyrov a "war criminal" who had personally taken part in the torture of civilians, has alleged that up to 70% of recent murder, torture, rape and kidnapping incidents in Chechnya have been committed by Ramzan's several thousands-strong paramilitaries.
- The Memorial group investigator said: "Considering the evidence we have gathered, we have no doubt that most of the crimes which are being committed now in Chechnya are the work of Kadyrov’s men. There is also no doubt in our minds that Kadyrov has personally taken part in beating and torturing people. What they are doing is pure lawlessness. To make matters worse they also go after people who are innocent, whose names were given by someone being tortured to death." "He and his henchmen spread fear and terror in Chechnya," the group said in a report. "They travel by night as death squads, kidnapping civilians, who are then locked in a torture chamber, raped and murdered."
- Anna Politkovskaya, a veteran Russian reporter who specializes in Chechnya, claimed that she has been sent video footage of a man identical in appearance to Ramzan. "On them (the clips)," she told, "were the murders of federal servicemen by the Kadyrovtsy, and also kidnappings directed by Kadyrov. These are very serious things; on the basis of this evidence a criminal case and investigation should follow. This could allow this person to be brought to justice, something he has long richly deserved."
- The Kadyrovtsy are often accused of working as a death squad against Kadyrov's enemies, and a kidnapping gang. Ramzan is rumored to own a private prison in his stronghold of Tsentoroy, his home village southeast of Grozny. Fields around Tsentoroy are mined and all access routes are blocked by checkpoints. On May 2, 2006, representatives of the Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) said they were prevented from entering the fortress.
- According to the May 15, 2006 International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights "Unofficial Places of Detention in the Chechen Republic", many illegal places of detention exist in the Chechen Republic; most of them are run by Kadyrovtsy. In the village Tsentoroy (Khosi-Yurt), where the Kadyrovtsy headquarters is located, there are at least two illegal prisons functioning. One consists of concrete bunkers or pillboxes, and kidnapped relatives of armed Chechen fighters - parents, wives, brothers or even children - are held there as hostages. The second prison in Tsentoroy is evidently located in the yard - or in immediate vicinity - of the house of Ramzan Kadyrov.
The Kadyrovtsy
Kadyrovtsy is a term used by the population of Chechnya – as well as members of the groups themselves - for members of the former so-called Security Service of the President of the Chechen Republic. This is the group now most feared by Chechnya’s civilian population, more than federal servicemen.
The Security Service was initially created as a personal security guard of the Moscow-appointed head of the Chechen administration, Akhmat Kadyrov, without any legal status, and gradually grew into a powerful military formation. It was commanded from the beginning by Ramzan Kadyrov. Some of its sub-units were legalized in 2004 and 2005 to become parts of different structures of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). After Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in a bomb blast in May 2004, the Security Service was formally liquidated and most of the rest of its units integrated into the system of Russian law enforcement agencies and security authorities. Gradually, all structures of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs are falling under control of the Kadyrovtsy.
The total strength of the Kadyrovtsy, which now include the Second Road Patrol Regiment of the Police (PPSM-2), the "oil regiment" and the anti-terrorist centers (ATC), is not disclosed. The estimations vary from 4 to 12 thousand people, although the last figure is probably an overestimation. Some are completely legalized into special structures of the Interior Ministry of Chechnya while others continue to exist in the form of paramilitary formations.
On 17 June 2006 the Kadyrovtsy and the FSB killed Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, a current Chechen rebel President.
Notes
External links
- [Sobaka :: Dossier: Ramzan Kadyrov]
- [Chechnya's gun-toting strongman]; BBC
- [A thug in charge]; Economist
- [Warlord named as Chechen PM]; The Guardian
- [In the torture cell of Chechnya's tyrant]; The Sunday Times
- [Land of the warlords] Who's who in the new Chechnya
- [Chechen police in Chechnya] Kadyrov's police force in Chechya. Video.
- [Dossier: Chechen Security Forces 2000 – 2006]
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