This podcast is adapted from the case study “War Crimes and Politics of Terror in Chechnya, 1994 – 2004”. Over 9 episodes, it explores the challenges and dilemmas MSF faced during the two wars in Chechnya between 1994 and 2004. These wars raised many questions for MSF on when and how the organisation should speak out publicly about the war crimes its staff witness and the chilling effects of the politics of terror on the Chechen people. 
Through MSF press releases, internal reports, speeches, and news articles of the time as well as eyewitness testimonies from MSF staff, this podcast series examines the challenges MSF faced when access to those in need was repeatedly blocked by the Russian authorities, forcing international staff to operate and train Caucasus teams at a distance. Later on, when staff members were kidnapped, MSF was confronted with a new dilemma - whether to raise a voice or lay low until their colleagues were released?

The first war of independence of Chechnya with the Russian Federation starts in 1994 and runs for two years during which access was regularly blocked by Russian forces. MSF feeds the press with information on the rapidly deteriorating conditions and the Russian’s refusal to let them into many areas of the country. 

Photo credits: © Generic MSF

In 1999, while the country and its people are still struggling to recover, the Russian authorities start bombing Chechnya again. The Russian Federation President, Boris Yeltsin talks publicly about a peace plan but his forces carry out a ruthless bombing campaign on rebel-held villages in southern Chechnya. MSF sections are united in wanting to speak out about what their staff witnessed before being forced out of the region. So what is the best way to draw the world's attention to the plight of the Chechen population, without endangering the national staff who continue to work in southern Chechnya?

Photo crédits: © Olivier Jobard/MYOP

With hostilities in Chechnya flaring up again in what the Russian Federation terms as “anti-terrorist operations”, MSF leaders decide to take advantage of the ceremony of the reception of Nobel Peace Prize to call on the international community to intervene. But MSF teams are struggling to work in a Chechnya facing all-out war and dangerous security problems. Instead, MSF starts support refugees in the neighbouring republics where they collect first-hands accounts. Inside Chechnya, operations are run through staff members from the Caucasus who are trained, supported, and managed from afar by international teams in the region. MSF is in a difficult situation that raises many questions: Should MSF be speaking out based on refugees’ testimonies if there are no operational activities with international staff permanently on the ground sin Chechnya? When dealing with a regime in denial of the realities of a war, why is it important to use the word ‘war’? Is it up to MSF to call for this qualification?

Photo crédits: © Sandra Aslaksen

Throughout the year 2000, MSF seizes every opportunity to raise the alarm on the Chechen’s fate with governments and institutions around the world, but to little concrete effect other than general condemnation. With still no international staff in the country, MSF sections resort to so-called ‘remote control’ management, using locally hired employees to deliver aid on the ground. Concerns over the organisation’s legitimacy in speaking out remain and soon one of the sections starts making unauthorised and dangerous trips over the border into Chechnya from Dagestan where they ran distributions of basic care items. Under attack in the Russian media, MSF wonders whether it should ignore or address the accusations of espionage regularly thrown at the organization?

Photo credits: © Gazelle Gaignaire

MSF’s operations in Chechnya are slowly starting back up again after 3 years of being run remotely. Although the bombing stops, general insecurity is pervasive and restarting these programmes is not without risks.
With an international team back on the ground in Chechnya, everyone agrees on the need to document the situation more thoroughly. A collection of patients’ accounts in the report “Chechnya: The politics of terror” is handed over at a press conference. The various MSF sections agree on a coordinated media strategy for getting news out of Chechnya and into the press, in particular the Russian media.

Photo credits: © Gazelle Gaignaire

Kidnappings are becoming more commonplace in Chechnya and closer to home for MSF as various staff members are held for questioning. At the start of 2001, a key member of the team in the North Caucasus is taken hostage and questions are asked as to whether there's a causal link between MSF’s decision to speak out in the media and the kidnapping? MSF is faced with the following dilemma: should the organisation speak out in the media to create visibility and hopefully bring their colleague some much-needed protection? Or should MSF be as discreet as possible to avoid a rise in the hostage’s so-called ‘market value’? Is it wise to take active steps to secure the hostage's release, such as publicly denouncing the responsibilities, negligence or even complicity of the government controlling the territory where the kidnapping took place?

 Photo credits: © Eddy Van Wessel

MSF’s operations have been closed down in Chechnya in response to the MSF Coordinator’s kidnapping. After his release, three weeks later,  MSF tries to restart its operations in Chechnya but there are delays due to security issues, and for now, the only programmes in the country are run through remote control management from Dagestan, on Chechnya eastern border. Most of MSF’s Caucasus staff are behind the return and support MSF speaking out in the media. Meanwhile and in a statement after the September 11th 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation links Russian military operations in Chechnya with the anti-terrorist combat launched by the American government. 
After the events of 11 September 2001, the West's attitude and view of Russia became more complacent, which weakened the impact of MSF's efforts to raise awareness of the plight of the Chechen population.

 Photo credits: © Olivier Jobard

The situation in the North Caucasus is becoming increasingly violent. The Russian federal authorities are forcing Chechen refugees to return to Chechnya, where they reign terror. They are also putting pressure on humanitarian organisations to stop helping refugees in 'Ingushetia, which would encourage them to return. When colleagues at other organisations are kidnapped in Chechnya, MSF closes down all operations in the country again. With a diminishing international presence in the warzone, MSF is once again faced with dilemmas - should it continue to speak out about human rights abuses its staff haven't witnessed? How can they help those in need and in danger in the region? And how long will it be before one of their own staff is once again held hostage?

 Photo credits: © Simon Norfolk

In August 2002, the threat to MSF becomes a reality and another Coordinator, a Dutch national for the MSF Swiss section, is kidnapped in Dagestan. The organisation is once again faced with the dilemma of how and when to speak out on the situation in the North Caucasus while one of its members is held hostage. MSF opts to keep quiet at first, but as the weeks turn into months and the MSF Coordinator is still not released, MSF starts questioning whether it should take active steps to secure the hostage’s release by publicly pointing out a government’s responsibilities, negligence, or even complicity when a kidnapping occurs on its soil, or should it not enter into these conversations to avoid the potential for a government to dig in its heels? Tensions are running high, especially between MSF, the Dutch authorities and the family of the hostage, and some feel the structures within the organisation are not helping the situation.

Photo credits:  © Michael Yassukovich

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