Vakha Arsanov
Encyclopedia
Vakha Arsanov was a former vice president
in the Aslan Maskhadov
's government of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
.
. In the Soviet
times he worked as a traffic police
officer in the rank of Captain
.
In 1991, Arsanov supported Dzhokar Dudayev's National Congress of Chechen People and became a deputy in Dudayev's parliament. During the First Chechen War
became a military commander for the Chechen separatist forces in the rank of Divisional General
. He took part in the Battle of Dolinskoye
, Battle of Grozny and others.
After the war, in January 1997, he run an on the same ticket as the separatist forces' chief of staff
Aslan Maskhadov
. The two won Chechnya's presidential election
when almost 300,000 Chechen voters chose Maskhadov and Arsanov.
of Arsanov as it passed through central Grozny
; his press spokesman alleged the attack was "a carefully planned operation by the Russia
n secret services," designed to destabilize Chechnya by provoking conflict between supporters of Maskhadov and Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, the outgoing acting president
. Same year, Arsanov rejected the Boris Yeltsin
's idea to created a commission tasked with drafting a power-sharing treaty with Chechnya and asserted that Russian-Chechen relations should be based on international law
. In April, he accused the Russian secret services of organizing a terrorist bombings the Russian town of Pyatigorsk
and Armavir, claimed by Salman Raduyev
. In May, Russian leaders formally apologized for the incident in which Russian fighter aircraft
intercepted Arsanov's plane shortly after it took off from Grozny en route for the Netherlands
. In September, Arsanov threatened to "execute" Russian Cabinet leaders for their "genocide
" during the war and said to "spit" on Russia; the Russian government demanded that Arsanov retract "the insulting statements" and apologize, which he did not do. In November, he served as the acting president
while Maskhadov was on vacation.
In July 1998, together with Shamil Basayev
, Arsanov saved the "Wahhabi
" forces aided by a renegade former generals Arbi Barayev
and Abdul-Malik Mezhidov from total destruction during the confrontation with the Maskhadov's government forces in Gudermes
. In an August 1998 televised conference, Arsanov said that by attacking Afghanistan and Sudan the United States
had launched an "undeclared World War III
" and ordered an attack against the Americans on the global scale; he said that Bill Clinton
had been put on the "wanted list" for his crimes against the Islamic people and would be tried according to Sharia
laws. In December, Arsanov defected
to the opposition, which was agitating
for a new Islamist
state constitution.
Arsanov was accused of involvement in criminal activity, including kidnapping
s of foreigners, and connections with the Chechen mafia
in Moscow. In one incident, North Ossetian officials arrested five Chechens, apparently to trade for the release of Ossetian citizens held hostage in Chechnya; the Chechens were released when Arsanov threatened to invade Vladikavkaz
, the capitol of North Ossetia. In February 1999, Arsanov was sacked by a presidential decree
abolishing his post, but said he will not leave office unless President Maskhadov also steps down. He said the republic's top Islamic body, the Shura
, should be allowed to select a new national leadership to transform Chechnya into an Islamic state
.
After the Second Chechen War
begun in 1999, Arsanov said that the State Defense Council
had decided to forbid "Chechen leaders from conducting negotiations or getting in touch with Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin
". In October, ruled out holding political negotiations with Russia, saying Chechnya expects the European Union
and the United States to pressure Russia into ending the military operation. In February 2000, Arsanov, together with Basayev, were reported to have announced the start of "total military actions on the whole of Russian territory." He soon disappeared in Georgia
where he was treated for an injury, appearing publcily in the presence of President of Georgia
Eduard Shevardnadze
, later reportedly moving to Nazran
in Ingushetia
. He resurfaced in 2001 to describe the continuing opposition to Russian federal forces as "pointless," for what he was once again fired by Maskhadov on August 31, 2001.
reported Arsanov issued a video
call to the Chechen resistance to put an end to attacks on pro-Moscow Chechen militia
. According to the Russian media reports, he became close with Akhmad Kadyrov
, the pro-Moscow
head of the republic who asked the federal center for an amnesty
for Arsanov, while some other sources he together with Isa Munayev stayed as one of the last commanders still fully loyal to Maskhadov. According to the Kommersant
report, Arsanov was detained by the Chechen OMON
led by the former separatist commander Artur Akhmadov. In February 2005, the separatists protested the alleged arrest and detention of Arsanov by the Russian party.
On May 15, 2005, Russia
announced that during a raid in the village of Ivanovo
, a suburb of Grozny, pro-Russian police and militia forces killed four militants, including Arsanov. The death was shrouded in mystery, including uncertainty voiced by the Russian officials (the bodies were reported to be burned too badly to be identified), and the previous information by the separatist sources that Arsanov was at the time in the Russian custody. According to the some reports, Arsanov was held in Ramzan Kadyrov
's private prison in Tsentoroi
and unsuccessfully torture
d there in order to incline him toward cooperating with the young Kadyrov against Maskhadov. In fact, the claim that Arsanov was being tortured at an unofficial prison run by Kadyrov was already cited by The Moscow Times
in February. It was also claimed the son of Arsanov, Rizvan, was also killed, shot dead during the torture sessions.
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
in the Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
's government of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
.
Early life
Vakha Arsanov was born in 1950 in Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicDagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the former Soviet Union. This "Land of Mountains" was known also for having a "mountain of peoples," with more than 30 nationalities or ethnic groups indigenous to the territory...
. In the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
times he worked as a traffic police
Traffic police
Traffic police or Traffic cops may refer to:*Police controlling traffic, see rules of the road*Traffic Cops, a BBC real-life documentary*Highway patrol*Road Policing Unit*Traffic Guard*Sri Lankan Traffic Police*Municipal police...
officer in the rank of Captain
Police captain
- France :France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant....
.
In 1991, Arsanov supported Dzhokar Dudayev's National Congress of Chechen People and became a deputy in Dudayev's parliament. During the First Chechen War
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
became a military commander for the Chechen separatist forces in the rank of Divisional General
Divisional General
Divisional General is a rank used in many armies to denote a rank of general, corresponding to command of a division. For convenience Divisional General is almost always translated into English as Major-General, the equivalent rank used by the UK, USA, etc., although this translation is, strictly...
. He took part in the Battle of Dolinskoye
Battle of Dolinskoye
The Battle of Dolinskoye , which took place 25 kilometers northwest of the Chechen capital of Grozny, was the first major ground engagement of the First Chechen War.- Battle :...
, Battle of Grozny and others.
After the war, in January 1997, he run an on the same ticket as the separatist forces' chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
. The two won Chechnya's presidential election
Presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is president.- United States :The United States has elections on the state and local levels...
when almost 300,000 Chechen voters chose Maskhadov and Arsanov.
Vice-President of Chechnya
In February 1997, a remote-controlled bomb blast damaged two cars in the motorcadeMotorcade
A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
of Arsanov as it passed through central Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
; his press spokesman alleged the attack was "a carefully planned operation by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n secret services," designed to destabilize Chechnya by provoking conflict between supporters of Maskhadov and Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, the outgoing acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...
. Same year, Arsanov rejected the Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
's idea to created a commission tasked with drafting a power-sharing treaty with Chechnya and asserted that Russian-Chechen relations should be based on international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
. In April, he accused the Russian secret services of organizing a terrorist bombings the Russian town of Pyatigorsk
Pyatigorsk
Pyatigorsk is a city in Stavropol Krai on the Podkumok River, about from Mineralnye Vody. Since January 19, 2010 it has been the administrative center of the North Caucasian Federal District of Russia...
and Armavir, claimed by Salman Raduyev
Salman Raduyev
Salman Raduyev was a Chechen separatist warlord considered to be one of the most radical and notorious Chechen rebel commanders of the period between 1994 and 1999...
. In May, Russian leaders formally apologized for the incident in which Russian fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
intercepted Arsanov's plane shortly after it took off from Grozny en route for the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In September, Arsanov threatened to "execute" Russian Cabinet leaders for their "genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
" during the war and said to "spit" on Russia; the Russian government demanded that Arsanov retract "the insulting statements" and apologize, which he did not do. In November, he served as the acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...
while Maskhadov was on vacation.
In July 1998, together with Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
, Arsanov saved the "Wahhabi
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
" forces aided by a renegade former generals Arbi Barayev
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
and Abdul-Malik Mezhidov from total destruction during the confrontation with the Maskhadov's government forces in Gudermes
Gudermes
Gudermes is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny. Population: 32,000 .Gudermes had a rural locality status until 1941. Later, it became a railroad junction between Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Astrakhan, and Mozdok. Gudermes is home for oil extraction...
. In an August 1998 televised conference, Arsanov said that by attacking Afghanistan and Sudan the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had launched an "undeclared World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
" and ordered an attack against the Americans on the global scale; he said that Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
had been put on the "wanted list" for his crimes against the Islamic people and would be tried according to Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
laws. In December, Arsanov defected
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to the opposition, which was agitating
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
for a new Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
state constitution.
Arsanov was accused of involvement in criminal activity, including kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
s of foreigners, and connections with the Chechen mafia
Chechen mafia
The Chechen mafia is one of the largest organized crime groups operating in the former Soviet Union next to established Russian mafia gangs, which originally consisted of criminals of Chechen ethnicity who later also tried to recruit former Russian special military forces, police and army officers...
in Moscow. In one incident, North Ossetian officials arrested five Chechens, apparently to trade for the release of Ossetian citizens held hostage in Chechnya; the Chechens were released when Arsanov threatened to invade Vladikavkaz
Vladikavkaz
-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...
, the capitol of North Ossetia. In February 1999, Arsanov was sacked by a presidential decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
abolishing his post, but said he will not leave office unless President Maskhadov also steps down. He said the republic's top Islamic body, the Shura
Shura
Shura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....
, should be allowed to select a new national leadership to transform Chechnya into an Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
.
After the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
begun in 1999, Arsanov said that the State Defense Council
State Defense Council
The State Defense Council is the military command committee of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , established by the separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev in 1992....
had decided to forbid "Chechen leaders from conducting negotiations or getting in touch with Russian Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
". In October, ruled out holding political negotiations with Russia, saying Chechnya expects the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and the United States to pressure Russia into ending the military operation. In February 2000, Arsanov, together with Basayev, were reported to have announced the start of "total military actions on the whole of Russian territory." He soon disappeared in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
where he was treated for an injury, appearing publcily in the presence of President of Georgia
President of Georgia
The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
, later reportedly moving to Nazran
Nazran
Nazran is a town in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until the town of Magas was specially built as the new capital. Nazran is the largest city of the republic: -General:...
in Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
. He resurfaced in 2001 to describe the continuing opposition to Russian federal forces as "pointless," for what he was once again fired by Maskhadov on August 31, 2001.
Late life and death
In February 2003, the AFPAgence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
reported Arsanov issued a video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
call to the Chechen resistance to put an end to attacks on pro-Moscow Chechen militia
Kadyrovtsy
Kadyrovtsy also Kadyrovites, is a term used by the population of Chechnya, as well as members of the groups themselves, for former members of the paramilitary units of the former pro-Moscow President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov, headed by his son and the current President Ramzan...
. According to the Russian media reports, he became close with Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad Kadyrov
Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
, the pro-Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
head of the republic who asked the federal center for an amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
for Arsanov, while some other sources he together with Isa Munayev stayed as one of the last commanders still fully loyal to Maskhadov. According to the Kommersant
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
report, Arsanov was detained by the Chechen OMON
OMON
OMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
led by the former separatist commander Artur Akhmadov. In February 2005, the separatists protested the alleged arrest and detention of Arsanov by the Russian party.
On May 15, 2005, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
announced that during a raid in the village of Ivanovo
Ivanovo
Ivanovo is a city and the administrative center of Ivanovo Oblast, Russia. Population: Ivanovo has traditionally been called the textile capital of Russia. Since most textile workers are women, it has also been known as the "City of Brides"...
, a suburb of Grozny, pro-Russian police and militia forces killed four militants, including Arsanov. The death was shrouded in mystery, including uncertainty voiced by the Russian officials (the bodies were reported to be burned too badly to be identified), and the previous information by the separatist sources that Arsanov was at the time in the Russian custody. According to the some reports, Arsanov was held in Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
's private prison in Tsentoroi
Tsentoroi
Tsentoroy is a rural locality in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located east-southeast of Grozny, the republic's capital, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains....
and unsuccessfully torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d there in order to incline him toward cooperating with the young Kadyrov against Maskhadov. In fact, the claim that Arsanov was being tortured at an unofficial prison run by Kadyrov was already cited by The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times is an English-language daily newspaper published in Moscow, Russia since 1992. The circulation in 2008 stood at 35,000 copies and the newspaper is typically given out for free at places English-language "expats" attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants, as well as by...
in February. It was also claimed the son of Arsanov, Rizvan, was also killed, shot dead during the torture sessions.
External links
- Chechen Republic of Ichkeria: Top Rebel Figure Arsanov Detained in Chechnya, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples OrganizationUnrepresented Nations and Peoples OrganizationThe Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization , formed in 11 February 1991, in The Hague, is an international organization of political organisations and governments representing self-proclaimed "indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories". The organization...
, 2005-02-14