Predictably, Federation Council deputy chairman and NAK member Aleksandr Torshin, like many Russian officials and members of the pro-Moscow administration, hailed the amnesty as a success. “We can already say that, compared to the previous amnesty campaigns, this one proved to be the most effective,... MORE

The bi-weekly newspaper Novaya gazeta ran an article on January 11 entitled, “Zapasnye Organy” (Spare Organs), which claimed that Russia’s special services had created secret structures under the cover of private security firms and special services’ veterans groups to carry out assassinations. The article’s author,... MORE

There is a widespread opinion that Wahhabism, or Salafism, a branch of Sunni Islam, is not a traditional religion for the North Caucasus. Many scholars, especially in Russia, say that the only form of traditional Islam in the region is Sufi Islam. (Sufism is a... MORE

Kommersant wrote on January 25 that Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov’s elevation to the post of the republic’s president may be imminent. The newspaper reported that Kadyrov had ordered a “comprehensive check” of all of the republic’s ministries and agencies and started reshuffling posts in... MORE

Members of a delegation from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) who were in Moscow this week to push for more aggressive investigations into the murder of Russian journalists, and particularly Anna Politkovskaya, raised eyebrows when they claimed they were told by Foreign... MORE

Kommersant reported on January 24 that Russia’s Foreign Ministry had told the delegation from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that an investigation was conducted in Chechnya in connection to several Interior Ministry officers who had appeared in four videos allegedly showing Chechen... MORE

On January 23, Russia’s Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Nizhegorod Oblast Court’s decision of last October 13 to support the closure of the Nizhny Novgorod-based Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (ORChD) by the regional prosecutor’s office, (Chechnya Weekly, October 19, 2006). The Supreme Court, Interfax noted,... MORE

Last year was a fairly successful one for Ramzan Kadyrov, even though his main goal – to become the republic’s president – has remained unmet. The conditions within the republic are such, however, that none can doubt that Kadyrov is the only man in charge.... MORE

On January 29, Demos, the Moscow-based human rights think-tank, and the Memorial human rights group issued a joint report on the “counter-terrorist operation” in Chechnya and the North Caucasus more generally. Despite the Kremlin’s efforts to portray the region as returning to normal, “nothing has... MORE

President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, denied reports in the Russian press that Chechen President Alu Alkhanov will be replaced by Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov in the near future. Kommersant wrote on January 25 that Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan... MORE