LOOKING TO A BETTER FUTURE
10. JABRAIL GAKAYEV'S PEACE PLAN
SOURCE. D. Gakaev, "Postkonfliktnaia Chechnia: analiz situatsii, problemy rekonstruktsii (politicheskii aspekt)" [Post-Conflict Chechnya: Situation Analysis, Problems of Reconstruction (Political Aspects)] in Chechnia: ot konflikta k stabil'nosti (problemy rekonstruktsii) [Chechnya: From Conflict to Stability (Problems of Reconstruction]. Moscow: Institut etnologii i antropologii RAN. pp. 73-90.
Jabrail Gakayev (Doctor of Historical Sciences) is a prominent Chechen historian and political scientist and the author of penetrating analyses of the origins of the Russo-Chechen conflict. (1) In 1991, as co-founder of the Movement for Democratic Reforms of the Chechen- Ingush Republic, he was a key figure in the opposition of the Chechen liberal democratic intelligentsia both to the communist regime and to the radical Chechen nationalists. He currently lives in Moscow.
Gakayev starts with the proposition that the problem of Chechnya cannot be solved by force alone. A political resolution is needed. By this, however, he does not mean a settlement negotiated with the insurgent leadership. "Negotiations with Maskhadov and the field commanders are possible on conditions for ending armed hostilities. The problem of the status of the Chechen Republic cannot be a subject of negotiations with the separatists. That is a prerogative of the people of Chechnya."
But if the people of Chechnya are to express their will, there must be a political process aimed at healing the internal divisions within Chechen society and building democratic institutions, culminating in elections to a new legislature. "Chechens must be assured that their sovereignty will be preserved, and that they will be governed not by appointees or military commanders but by their own freely elected representatives." Chechnya must have "full self-determination and high state status within the framework of the Russian Federation."
Thus Gakayev envisages an arrangement based on principles of confederation. "Self-determination" and "sovereignty" (but not "independence") are to be reconciled with preservation of Russia's territorial integrity. Indeed, he suggests that in order to safeguard "the Chechens' dignity" and prevent "the syndrome of the defeated people" a basic law for Chechnya might be based on the constitution of 1992, adopted under Dudayev.
The author acknowledges that such a settlement might not put an immediate end to violence. The Chechen Republic would still need force structures, which should be ethnically mixed, to conduct "special operations against bandits and terrorists." At the same time, insurgents willing to lay down their arms and who have not committed serious crimes should be granted amnesty. A small number of experienced federal troops might remain to defend strategic objects and guard the inter-state border, but they should be confined to an auxiliary role. They should also be properly disciplined, including a strict ban on the consumption of alcohol.
Gakayev stresses that it is not only the territory of Chechnya which must be integrated into Russia, but also the Chechens as a people. The climate of inter-ethnic relations in Russia must be changed to ensure the equality of all citizens before the law irrespective of ethnic origin. The mass media must stop portraying Chechens as "proud savages" and convey a positive image of them as a modern people. There should be a policy of recruiting more qualified Chechens into government structures both in Chechnya and at the federal level, so that Chechens will identify more closely with the Russian state.
Note
(1) See "Put' k chechenskoi revoliutsii" [The Road to the Chechen Revolution], pp. 150-176 in Chechnia i Rossiia: obshchestva i gosudarstva [Chechnya and Russia: Societies and States], ed. D. E. Furman. Moscow: Polinform-Talburi, 1999, and also his monograph Chechenskii krizis: istoki, itogi, perspektivy (politicheskii aspekt) [The Chechen Crisis: Sources, Outcomes, Prospects (The Political Aspect)]. Moscow: Chechenskii kul'turnyi tsentr, 1999.
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