Chechnya : Russia's human rights nightmare

Available as

Online

Summary

For over one hundred years, people of Chechnya have been fighting for self determination from the Russian State. In 1944, Stalin destroyed Chechnya and expelled its residents to central Russia. In ...

For over one hundred years, people of Chechnya have been fighting for self determination from the Russian State. In 1944, Stalin destroyed Chechnya and expelled its residents to central Russia. In 1991, a reborn Chechnya proclaimed its independence from Russia, but President Yeltsin viewed this as a threat to Russian sovereignty, and in spite of self-proclaimed peace plans, he ordered the military to intervene. A Chechnyan militia of farmers and craftsman began a campaign of resistance and sabotage in an effort to combat the Russian military. This program profiles the six-year war in Chechnya, with footage documenting war crimes, genocide, and other human rights violations. A video diary from Thomas Goltz documents the Russian Army's annihilation of the Chechnyan town of Samashki where thousands of civilians perished at the hands of 'drunken, doped-up soldiers.' The program also includes a profile of human rights hero, Fred Cuny, who mysteriously disappeared in Chechnya while attempting to come to the aid of the Chechnyan people.

Show More