Chechens and Ingushes in Russia and Europe commemorate victims of 1944 deportation

Today, Chechens and Ingushes, wherever they live, mark the 66th anniversary of deportation of Ingush and Chechen nationals to Central Asia and Siberia. Mourning actions were held in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia, and in the countries of Europe where these nationals live.

66 years ago, at dawn on February 23, 1944, deportation of Chechen-Ingush people was launched. Lavrenti Beria, the USSR People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, was personally commanding the broad-scale operation under the code name "Chechevitsa" (Lentils). Less than 24 hours later 180 echelons were carrying the "special contingent", as the deportees were called, to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. On February 29, Beria reported to Stalin, that in a couple of preceding days 478,479 persons had been evicted and put into railway cars, including 387,229 Chechens and 91,250 Ingushes.

Today the whole world knows the tragedy of the high-mountainous village of Khaibakh, where under the order of Colonel of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (known as "NKVD") Gveshiani 700 persons were burnt alive, since it proved impossible to bring them down to the place of loading into echelons. However, until now nobody can tell the exact number of persons shot dead on that day "at an attempt to render resistance."

According to the International Society "Memorial", in 1943-44, in the course of deportation of the population from the territory of Northern Caucasus, 485,000 persons were evicted from Chechnya and Ingushetia.

Meanwhile, according to other sources, the number of Vainakhs deported in 1944 was over 650,000 persons. This the figure presented by historian N. F. Bugai (Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his article "Truth about Deportation of Chechens and Ingushes", published in the collection "History Issues" (1990, No. 7).

Under Decree of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, February 23 is now annually marked as the Day of Memory and Mourning; in spite of the fact that Russia celebrates the Day of Homeland Defender on this very day.

Today, the mourning events have been held in all districts of Ingushetia and in a part of North Ossetia, where Ingushes live. Memorial services were conducted in houses of culture of the republic, and memory parties took place in schools and universities.

In Nazran, in the square at the memorial complex to victims of political repressions, a mourning rally was held with participation of clergymen and officials of Ingushetia to commemorate deportation victims and mourn for them.

Addressing the rally, President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov said: "We should never forget the feat of our ancestors, who had managed to preserve our nation despite pain, sufferings and hardships. We survived due to our unity and respect of our traditions and customs. By preserving all the best, without forgetting the past, we should strive forward, to development and creation."

Because of mourning actions, the republic cancelled all the celebrations of the Day of Homeland Defender.

On February 23, all-Caucasian demonstrations, rallies and pickets were held in Denmark, Poland, Norway, Germany, Sweden, France, Georgia, Spain, Japan, Turkey, Canada, Lithuania and Estonia.

The "BaltInfo" reports that the actions were dated to the 66th anniversary of deportation of Chechens and Ingushes, to the 18th anniversary of the tragedy in Khodzhaly and to the day of loss by Georgia of its state independence as a result of the military aggression of the Red Army on February 25, 1921.

According to Rusudan Giorgberidze, deputy chairman of the Public Patriotic Movement "Free Caucasus", the main slogan of Caucasian demonstrators is "the demand to international organizations to set up the 'Caucasian Tribunal' with the aim to inquiry into Russia's war crimes and crimes against humanity, against Caucasian nations and bring military criminals to liability according to international laws."

Besides, demonstrators demand from Russia "to de-occupy Georgia and Chechnya, which fell victim of Russian military aggression; and to fulfil numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council related to occupation of the essential part of the territory of Azerbaijan, which was carried out directly with participation of military units of the Russian Army on February 25-26, 1992," the "Georgia Online" reports.

Meanwhile, the public organizations, which unite natives of former republics of Soviet Caucasus, keep ascertaining for more than a year "the exclusive need to jointly urge the countries of the world community to investigate Russia's war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Public actions, condemning "crimes of Russian leaders" Iossif Stalin-Dzhugashvili and Lavrenti Beria, are held, as a rule, in front of diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation and frequently "turn into staged performances with elements of a political carnival, if not to use a more appropriate word for these speculations on the bones of ancestors tortured by Stalinism," believes Vasily Amirdzhanov, an observer of the "Voice of Russia".

He reminds that Stalin's terror touched on all the nations which inhabited the Soviet Union, with no exceptions. The monstrous GULAG system, created under Iossif Stalin-Dzhugashvili, had "grinded" in its millstones millions of Soviet citizens, including Kalmyks, Ingushes, Chechens, Poles, Koreans, Karachais, Balkars, Crimean Tatars, Nogais, Germans, Meskhetian Turks, Pontic Greeks, Bulgarians, Kurds, Russians and Ukrainians. The Georgians also got it, in spite of the fact that Iossif Stalin (Dzhugashvili) was an ethnic Georgian.

In 1991, the USSR passed the Law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations", which, in the opinion of the journalist, put a full stop in recognition of the crimes of the Stalin epoch of Soviet history.

While the very fact of passing the Law is causing mainly positive references, the issue of enforcing it is still a point of debates.

Radio Liberty quotes the well-known Chechen political scientist Ruslan Martagov, who believes, in particular, that even if the Law if enforced in practice, it is done in the most humiliating way for the people.

"There was no rehabilitation as such, since rehabilitation assumes moral and material aspects. They are now paying compensation to us - 10,000 roubles. They'd better pay nothing than these 10,000 roubles," he said.

Earlier, the fact that the Law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations" has not been enforced yet was stated by Ingush human rights activist Magomed Mutsolgov, an expert of the Office of Russian Ombudsman. He sees the reason in the absence in Russia of a special state agency or establishment in charge of enforcing the Law.