Sam Brownback: “the Romans, said Tacitus, ``created a desert and called it peace.'' The Russian Government has created a wasteland of…”

“the Romans, said Tacitus, ``created a desert and called it peace.'' The Russian Government has created a wasteland of death and destruction in Chechnya and called it ``normalization.'' Over 10 years since the beginning of the Chechen war in post-Soviet Russia, the carnage in Chechnya continues, taking the lives of Chechens and Russians alike. Moreover, the echoes of the conflict are now stretching across the entire North Caucasus region. Given the information blockade that the Russian Government has thrown up around Chechnya, the world hears little of the violence and suffering taking place in those mountains far away. Nevertheless, some information does get out. As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I would like to share some of this information with my distinguished colleagues. According to Agence France Press, on June 4, 2005, an estimated 200- 300 armed men, arriving in jeeps, trucks and armored personnel carriers, staged an attack on the village of Borozdinovskaya, near the border with neighboring Dagestan. These villagers are not Chechen, but Avars, Dagestan's most numerous ethnic group. The raiders beat dozens of men and torched at least three houses. Eleven men vanished and are feared dead. The villagers have no idea who the assailants were, but evidence points to a battalion of amnestied former Chechen rebels allegedly operating under the command of Russia's military intelligence.…”