KADYROV FEELING THE PRESSURE AFTER TERRORIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001249 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2019 TAGS: PTER PGOV PHUM PINR PREF RS SUBJECT: KADYROV FEELING THE PRESSURE AFTER TERRORIST OPERATION REGIME LIFTED Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Alice G. Wells; reason 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Less than one month after Moscow lifted the counter-terrorism regime in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov is beginning to show even less patience with opposing views. He has declared an end to the amnesty procedure by which former fighters came down from the mountains and out of the forests to rejoin society. He has stepped up, by some accounts, his practice of burning down the houses and otherwise persecuting the families of suspected fighters. In a recent example of maniacal pique, Kadyrov reportedly threatened a representative from the Moscow Helsinki Group who had proposed holding a meeting on internally-displaced persons because Kadyrov stated almost two years ago that they no longer exist in Chechnya. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Chechnya's president Ramzan Kadyrov has reacted quickly and harshly to a recent spate of violence in the republic. On May 15, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at 1100 in the morning near the Headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Grozniy killing himself, two policemen and the unfortunate 75 year-old taxi driver who had brought him to the Ministry. According to media reports, Chechen law enforcement in the capitol of Grozniy killed four suspected terrorists later that same day and the following day. While the internet-based Caucasian Knot reported initially that each of the four men was unarmed, the daily Kommersant reported that police later found a 152 millimeter cartridge and a grenade in the vehicle owned by one of the men. On May 16 Chechen and Ingushetiya law enforcement began coordinated operations along the border between the two republics aimed at wiping out an estimated 25 fighters in Chechnya and 15 in Ingushetiya. Kadyrov met with Ingushetiya president Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in the Ingush capital of Manas on May 17 and the two agreed on joint anti-terrorist activities. Kadyrov No Longer Mr. Nice-Guy -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Writing for the daily Vremya Novostey, military correspondent Sergey Minenko said that Kadyrov was irritated that the situation has gone south so soon after Moscow agreed to lift its ten-year anti-terrorism regime. After the mid-day attack in the center of Grozniy, Kadyrov ordered Chechen police and law enforcement to "take no prisoners" and stated that he would no longer ask Moscow to grant amnesty to fighters who come down from the mountains or out of the forests from which they wage their anti-government insurgency. ¶4. (C) According to Aslambek Apayev, the Moscow Helsinki Group's expert on the North Caucasus, Kadyrov has stepped up the practice of punishing the families of suspected fighters. Apayev has been trying to organize the resettlement of six families burned out of their homes and now further threatened by Chechen law enforcement. In April, he appealed to the German Embassy for help in arranging safe passage for the family, including a woman who is now nine-months pregnant but too afraid to go to government-run hospital to give birth. On May 17 he asked us to see if we could convince Malik Saidullayev, a Moscow-based businessman and the informal head of the Chechen diaspora here, who opposes Kadyrov, to help these families travel to Germany illegally. ¶5. (C) Apayev himself has personally experienced Kadyrov's wrath. He told us May 17 that while in Chechnya, Ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhayev informed Apayev that Kadyrov wanted to meet with him. When Apayev arrived at Kadyrov's office on May 7 he was shown to a large meeting room in which Kadyrov's entire cabinet was seated. Kadyrov entered the room and began to berate Apayev for his plan to hold a conference on the situation of internally-displaced persons in Chechnya. Kadyrov pointed out that he had stated publicly almost two years ago that such people do not exist and that the temporary accommodation centers have all been closed. According to Apayev, Kadyrov was unrelenting in his attack, and said that he knew that Apayev was working for Saidullayev. According to Apayev, he worked in the 1990's on a demining project in the mountainous regions of Chechnya with a charity Saidullayev founded in honor of his father, but Apayev has not had any contact with him since then. Kadyrov then threatened to kill Apayev and his family if he did not cancel his plans to hold a conference on internally-displaced persons in Chechnya. Apayev remained in Chechnya for another seven days, during which he was followed by Chechen law enforcement and returned to Moscow May 15. He has decided to postpone his planned conference. Comment -------------- MOSCOW 00001249 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) The continued violence in Chechnya, especially after Moscow lifted its counter terrorist regime, seems to have taken a toll on Kadyrov. His assurance to Moscow that everything is under control -- when it is really not -- means that we can expect he will strike out harshly against any perceived opposing views. BEYRLE