From: Ray Thomas <r.thomas@open.ac.uk>
Subject: FORTHCOMING BOOK ON RUSSIA'S WAR ON TERROR
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005
The Imposition of a Fake Political Settlement in the Northern Caucasus - The 2003 Chechen Presidential Election. Edited by Tanya Lokshina in collaboration with Ray Thomas and Mary Mayer.
This book provides first-hand accounts and authoritative analyses of recent developments that explain why Russia's 'war on terror' in Chechnya shows little sign of success. After an election in October 2003, the Kremlin favourite, Akhmad Kadyrov, was made President, but he was killed seven months later in a terrorist attack. While Kadyrov's death is regrettable, the book shows that the 2003 election was spurious. Kadyrov had little legitimacy among the Chechen people., and the election bore no relation to a political solution.
Violence in Chechnya, which has been variously attributed to separatists, gangsters, warlords, Islamic extremists, Wahhabists, al Qaedists and simply to hatred of Russia, has been reciprocated with targeted assassinations, 'cleansing operations' and 'disappearances'. The reciprocity of violence by 'law enforcement' agencies has maintained the scale of lawlessness and further diminished the prospects of solution.
The book asks the Russian Government to tell the truth about Chechnya, and invites the international community to launch open discussions on the situation in the Northern Caucasus in order to find a way out from a bloody crisis that has already lingered on for more than a decade without sign of resolution.
The book was largely produced by the DEMOS think-tank (http://demos-center.ru) associated with Moscow Helsinki Human Rights Centre. Further information is available from r.thomas@open.ac.uk.
If you wish to review the book please request a review copy from the publishers, ibidem-Verlag, Autorenbetreuung, Julius-Leber-Weg 11, D-30457 Hannover, Germany. Tel.: 0511 / 262 2200. Fax: 0511 / 262 2201. Email: ibidem@ibidem-verlag.de.