The involvement of federal forces in atrocities has been common knowledge both in Russia and abroad for months. The massacre of civilians in the village of Samashki, the beatings and brutal interrogation of suspects picked up at random and incarcerated in so-called filtration camps and last weekend's bombing of the village of Roshni-Chu are just a few items on a long list.
Equally familiar has been the chorus of denials issuing from the Defense Ministry, which has maintained a steadfast resistance to all the evidence laid at its doors and has continued to insist that black is white throughout the Chechen campaign.
Lobov's statements do little more than adjust this lamentable record. From a moral point of view, it is to be welcomed, albeit as too little, too late. But much more than a grudging admission of wrongdoing must come from Moscow before one can start looking for any tangible effect on the process of peace and reconciliation in Chechnya.
Above all there should be a high-level investigation into abuses, with sufficient clout to summon and interview top officials involved in the Chechen campaign. Whoever ordered the punitive expedition into Samashki, for instance, should not be granted immunity by rank or privilege any more than Shamil Basayev, the Chechen fighter who led the June raid on Budyonnovsk in southern Russia.
In any war, when the taboo against killing has ceased to operate, it is immensely difficult to keep the capacity to distinguish between behavior that is right and wrong. But it is equally important to do so, especially for a government that claims to be only trying to restore order among its own people.
The war in Chechnya is a sad and shameful chapter in Russia's history. Many Russian officers and soldiers, however, will have acted with bravery and distinction while fighting it. Others threw away their careers and risked punishment and opprobrium by refusing to carry out orders they regarded as morally indefensible. Others still committed atrocities. The military should welcome the opportunity to purge this third category from its ranks.
A thorough investigation would reveal many skeletons in the closets of the interior and defense ministries and would meet great resistance. But in the long-term interests of finding some kind of peaceful coexistence between Chechnya and federal Russia, this kind of housecleaning is essential.
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