Russian Perspectives on terrorism(1), studia UPH Siedlce, bezpieczeństwo narodowe, praca magist. - Czeczenia

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Conflict Studies Research Centre
C110
Russian Perspectives On Terrorism
Dr Mark A Smith
Contents
The 1998 Law on Terrorism
2
Chechnya - Its Foreign Policy Significance
3
Recent Structural Realignments
5
Problems with the Legal Base & Functional Demarcation
6
The War on Terrorism: International Aspects
9
Conclusions
16
Appendices
1 - Russian Law on Fighting Terrorism 1998
20
The UK Definition of Terrorism
22
The US Definition of Terrorism
23
2 - Terrorist Group Listing
24
1
Russian Perspectives on Terrorism
Conflict Studies Research Centre
ISBN 1-904423-57-4
January 2004
C110
Dr Mark A Smith
Russian Perspectives on Terrorism
The Russian leadership is of the view that the threat of terrorism is growing in
Russian society, and fighting terrorism within the Russian Federation has become a
much higher priority. In 1997, the then director of the Federal Security Service,
Nikolay Kovalev, stated that Russia faced three main types of terrorism: social,
which aims at political and economic changes; nationalist and ethno-separatist;
and religious.
1
However, in practice, the Russian leadership’s struggle against
terrorism within the Russian Federation has concentrated on Chechen terrorism,
which it sees as a mixture of all three types. The actions have not been exclusively
concentrated on Chechnya and other parts of southern Russia, but this region has
understandably been the main focus.
Terrorism as a crime was first introduced into the Russian Federation Criminal
Code in 1994. In that year in Russia, 18 cases of terrorism were registered. This
increased to 327 in 2001, and to 402 in 2002.
In November 2002, Vladimir Putin
described the struggle against terrorism as a struggle for the preservation of
Russian statehood. Terrorism in the Russian Federation has become more visible
since 2002, most notably with the Nord-Ost theatre siege in Moscow in October that
year, the suicide bombings at a rock concert on Moscow’s outskirts in Tushino in
June 2003 and near the Duma building in Moscow in December 2003. In addition
suicide bombers destroyed a train in Stavropol kray in December 2003 and the
main military hospital in Mozdok in Chechnya in August 2003.
The 1998 Law on Terrorism
Whilst it is accurate to regard the autumn of 1999 as the time when Moscow began
to emphasise strongly the threat posed by terrorism both to international security
in general, and to Russia’s national security (this was the start of the major
'counter-terrorist' operation in Chechnya), the Russian state had begun to make
moves to enhance its capabilities to fight terrorism even before then. In July 1998,
Russia’s first law on fighting terrorism came into force.
Article Three provided a
legal definition of terrorism, and outlined the main forms of terrorist activity; these
are reproduced in Appendix 1 of this paper. The law also outlined the main
methods by which the state could fight against terrorism.
The government was logically defined as the main agency to protect the individual,
society and the state against terrorism. The main government bodies participating
in this struggle were listed as: the Federal Security Service (FSB); the Interior
Ministry (MVD); the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR); The Federal Guard Service;
the Ministry of Defence; and the Federal Border Service.
The law went on to outline the legal basis for conducting specific counter-terrorist
operations, stating in Article Ten that the government would in such cases set up
an operational headquarters, headed either by a representative of the FSB or MVD,
depending on which organisation was best suited to head that specific operation.
Article Six of the 1998 law stated that a Federal Anti-terrorist Commission would be
set up to coordinate the government’s work. The commission’s task was to work
out the fundamentals of state policy in this area, and implement the gathering and
analysis of information pertaining to terrorist organisations and activities on the
territory of the Russian Federation. The commission was further tasked to
2
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Perspectives on Terrorism
coordinate the actions of all federal bodies of executive power engaging in the fight
against terrorism. It would also participate in the preparation of international
treaties negotiated by the Russian Federation in the field of countering terrorism,
and work out suggestions for improving anti-terrorist legislation.
In November 1998, the federal government issued a resolution (
postanovleniye
)
outlining the formation of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Commission. The Commission
replaced the inter-departmental anti-terrorist commission which was set up in May
1997. The new Commission was to rely on the FSB for the gathering and analysis
of information. The new Commission held its first meeting in February 1999. It
was at that time headed by first deputy prime minister Vadim Gustov. In June
1999, the then prime minister Sergey Stepashin took over as head of the
commission. Since then, this body has always been headed by the prime minister,
with the head of the FSB and the interior minister as deputy chairmen.
In August 1999, President Yel’tsin issued a decree reorganising the FSB.
A single
department for protecting the constitutional structure and combating terrorism was
formed from the department for combating terrorism and the department of
constitutional security. In December 1999 the Duma voted to amend the law on
the FSB, enhancing its powers to fight terrorism. In the summer of 1999, the FSB
and MVD had launched Operation Whirlwind, an anti-terrorist operation
throughout the Russian Federation. This operation has been continuing ever since
then.
Chechnya - Its Foreign Policy Significance
The Russian military operation in Chechnya that began in autumn 1999 was
officially described by the Russian leadership as a counter-terrorist operation. The
operation was launched in response to the incursion of Chechen fighters into
Dagestan and the apartment bombings that summer. The federal leadership
increasingly justified the military operation in Chechnya as part of the struggle
against “international terrorism.” In December 1999, President Yel’tsin depicted
Russian military action in Chechnya in these terms.
Our country is waging a difficult battle against international terrorism,
which has blatantly thrown down the gauntlet before us. This is a fight for
the life of the people of Russia, many of whom we lost in Moscow and
Dagestan, in Volgodonsk and Buynaksk. This is a fight for the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. It is also part of the
international community’s effort against international terrorism. I am sure
that those in the West who for some reason have still not understood this
will be convinced that we are in the right. International terrorism has no
borders. It now has the whole world in its sights.
5
In the same month, foreign minister Igor Ivanov echoed Yel’tsin’s sentiments,
stating that Chechnya was the front line against international terrorism. Vladimir
Putin took the same line when he became president in 2000, commenting in an
interview in
Paris Match
in July 2000 that:
Today we are the witnesses of the creation of an extremist international in
the so-called arc of instability beginning in the Philippines and ending in
Kosovo. This is in the first instant very dangerous for Europe, as it has a
large Moslem population. People who adhere to Islam as a religion to
3
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Dr Mark A Smith
achieve provocative and terrorist goals compromise Islam. Islam is a
religion of peaceable and orderly people. What does the problem consist
of? You indeed know that one of the extremist organisations, which is
headed by the notorious terrorist no.1 in the world Osman bin Laden, is the
International Islamic Front, which, in my opinion, puts as its task the
creation of an Islamic khaliphate, a United States of Islam, in which should
enter a number of Islamic states, and some Central Asian states and part
of the contemporary territory of the Russian Federation. Such are their
fascist plans. I call them fascist, as they call for the creation of a united
front against the Jews and “crusaders” as they call us. This is indeed a
terrorist international. And in this sense Russia stands at the forefront of
the struggle against this international terrorism. And Europe should get on
its knees and show a large amount of gratitude for the fact that we
struggle against it, so far, unfortunately, on our own.
6
In January 2000, foreign minister Igor Ivanov spoke at the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, and defended the military operation in
Chechnya on the grounds that “Russia is essentially protecting the borders of all
Europe from a barbaric invasion of international terrorism”.
7
In 2000, three important documents were released by the Putin leadership on
Russian foreign and security policy. These were: the National Security Concept
(January 2000); the Military Doctrine (April 2000); the Foreign Policy Concept (June
2000).
All three documents emphasised that Moscow saw international terrorism
as a major threat. The Foreign Policy Concept saw “the struggle against
international terrorism as a most important task, as terrorism could destabilise not
just entire countries, but entire regions”. The Military Doctrine saw terrorism as
one of the main external and internal threats to the security of the Russian
Federation. The National Security Concept stated that “the most important
constituent national interests of Russia are the defence of the individual, society
and the state from terrorism, including international terrorism”. It also stated that
“terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the Russian Federation.
International terrorism has unleashed an open campaign to destabilise the
situation in Russia.”
In November 2000, the then defence minister, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, stated that
the main threats to Russia’s security were “religious extremism, separatism and
international terrorism.”
At a round table discussion of the Diplomatic Academy of
the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December 2000, First Deputy Foreign
Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov warned that on
the threshold of the third millennium terrorism has become one of the most
dangerous global challenges. Not a single state can afford to ignore this
problem. Russia gives high priority to international cooperation in the
struggle with this evil. We can't seriously hope to solve it with our own
resources only, in conditions when the "terrorist international" has become
a real threat to the normal development of international relations and to the
security of countries and regions. Our stand, repeatedly set out in the
speeches and statements of the leaders of the country, is that there is the
need for coordinated actions of the entire world community at global,
regional and national levels.
10
He expressed similar sentiments at a conference in St Petersburg in April 2001,
which called for improving the international-legal framework for countering
4
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