Ramzan Kadyrov

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Kadyrov visiting the grave of Akhmad Kadyrov

Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov (Russian: Рамзан Ахмадович Кадыров) (born 5 October 1976, Tsentoroi, Chechnya) is the President of the Federal government Russian republic of Chechnya since 2 March 2007 and former Chechen rebel.

Ramzan is the surviving son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in May 2004, and heads a private army known as the Kadyrovtsy. Kadyrov is widely believed to have amassed a huge fortune from extorting kickbacks and from the illegal sale of Chechen oil [1][2] and has been repeatedly accused of a serious human rights abuses in Chechnya, including massive abductions, torture and other abuse of civilians by security forces under his control, as well as propagating the personality cults of his father and himself. He is married, with five children.

Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President shortly after he turned 30, the minimum age for the post. He has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was awarded the Hero of Russia medal, the highest honorary title of Russia. Analysts say Putin has entrusted Kadyrov with power in part because he is seen as the only person who can keep large numbers of former rebels under control as a key to end the Second Chechen War. Kayrov was engaged in a sometimes violent power struggle for overall military authority with fellow Chechen government warlords Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiev, and political with Alkhanov; by 2007, however, he seems to have acquired practically total power on the territory of the war-scarred republic. Of late he has been credited with finally launching the federally-sponsored renovations of the Chechen capital Grozny, which was nearly obliterated by the fighting.

1 Biography
2 Accusations of human rights abuses
3 Trivia
4 Quotes
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
- 7.1 Articles
- 7.2 Videos

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

A tearaway at school, Ramzan Kadyrov strove to gain the respect of his father Akhmad Kadyrov, a Muslim imam; the desire to emulate his father has been a constant throughout his life, he claims.

In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union splintered into fragments, the Chechens launched a bid for independence. The Kadyrovs joined the struggle and fought against the federal forces, with Ramzan, at age 16, leading a small unit of separatist fighters in the First Chechen War, and Akhmad becoming the rebel mufti of Chechnya.

[edit] Militia leader

The Kadyrov clan defected to the Moscow side in the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. Since then, Ramzan had led his militia with support from Russia's FSB state security service (including service ID cards) and has become the head of the Chechen Presidential Security Service.

He was falsely rumored to have died of a gunshot wound inflicted by his bodyguard on 28 April, 2004. [3]

[edit] Deputy Prime Minister

After his father, the then Chechen President, was assassinated on 9 May 2004, Ramzan was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic with special responsibility for security.

When his sister was detained by the Dagestan police in January 2005, Ramzan and some 150 armed men drove to Khasavyurt City Police (GOVD) building. According to the city mayor Kadyrov's men surrounded the GOVD, forcing its duty officers against the wall and beating them, after which they left the building with Zulai Kadyrova, "victoriously shooting in the air." [4]

In August 2005 Ramzan declared that "Europe's largest" mosque would be built in place of the demolished ruins of Grozny's shattered downtown, [5], that Chechnya is the "most peaceful place in Russia" and in a few years it would also be "the wealthiest and the most peaceful" place in the world. He has claimed the war was already over with only 150 "bandits" remaining (as opposed to the official figures of 700 to 2,000 rebel fighters), and that thanks to his father 7,000 separatists had defected to the Russian side since 1999.

[edit] Acting Prime Minister

Following a car accident in December 2005 in which Chechnya's prime minister Sergey Abramov was injured, Ramzan has been functioning as the caretaker acting prime minister. He immediately proceeded to implement elements of the Islamic law, such as declaring Jihad on "terrorists", banning gambling and alcohol production and usage, and speaking in favor of polygamy.

In February 2006, responding to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons and accusing Danes of "spying" and being "pro-terrorist", he banned Danish citizens from entering Chechnya, effectively banning activity of the Danish Refugee Council, the largest NGO working in the region. "That cartoonist needs to be buried alive," Kadyrov said. He was eventually pressed to overturn this decision by Moscow, a rare example of federal intervention in Kadyrov's rule in the republic.

[edit] Prime Minister

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On March 1, 2006, Sergey Abramov resigned from the position of prime minister and told Itar-Tass news agency that he did so "on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government." This was followed by a decree of Kadyrov forcing women to wear headscarves; he also rejected a federal appropriation of the republic's budget, demanding more money, and called for all federal forces but the border guards to be withdrawn.

On April 17, 2006, Kadyrov approved a project to erect a presidential palace on a 30-acre plot by the Sunzha River in ruined downtown Grozny. The compound, which will also include a five-star hotel and recreational facilities, will cost an estimated 1.5 billion rubles ($54 million USD) to build.

On April 19, 2006 Kadyrov called for refugee camps scattered about Chechnya to be closed down. "None of these people want to return home. Their actions have political shades. I would call them international spies who are interested in stoking conflict between Chechnya and Russia, who are seeking to destabilize the situation in our region," Kadyrov said at a meeting with municipal and district leaders from around Chechnya. Reuters quoted Kadyrov as saying that "liquidating the refugee camps will allow us to uncover spies who are working for foreign intelligence services." [6]

On April 29, 2006, the usage of term Kadyrovites was officially banned by Kadyrov, following an armed clash with a security force of Chechen pro-Moscow president Alu Alkhanov in central Grozny. According to the media reports, the Kadyrov-Alkhanov struggle already included armed confrontation, murders, and hostage taking; many of these incidents are provoked by Kadyrov's men.

On June 5, 2006, Speaker of the Chechen People's Assembly Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said at a press conference in Moscow that "there is no alternative" to Kadyrov for the presidency. Kadyrov has "exclusive awards in combat, and has made achievements in improving the peaceful life and in human rights protection. Who could replace him at this stage? Nobody." he said.

On November 7, 2006, Umar Dzhabrailov, Chechnya’s representative in the Federation Council and a close ally of Kadyrov, urged Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov to initiate a measure calling on Kadyrov to become the republic’s president, thereby replacing Alu Alkhanov. [7] Next week, several Russian newspapers reported that a worsening security situation in Chechnya is lessening the likelihood that Kadyrov will replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic's president. Other media, however, reported that Kadyrov continues to strengthen his position at Alkhanov's expense. [8]

On December 6, 2006, Kadyrov said he that he would seek the prosecution of the commanders of federal military units responsible for the death or disappearance of civilians in Chechnya (particularly Major General Aleksandr Studenikin). In addition, Kadyrov said the war in Chechnya was unleashed not by the Chechen people but by the Russian leadership. Kadyrov’s comments may represent his government’s increasing unhappiness with certain figures in Moscow, who were said to be blocking his elevation to the post of Chechen president. [9]

On February 5, 2007, Kadyrov said he did not aspire to become the Chechen president; however, he criticized Alkhanov. Kadyrov also claimed the war in Chechnya is ultimately finished, with "all informal armed groups eliminated". Alkhanov, for his part, criticized "the cult of personality and idealization of one person," a clear reference to Kadyrov, whose enormous portraits are prominently displayed in Grozny.

[edit] President

On February 15, 2007, Putin signed a decree removing Alkhanov and instating Kadyrov as the Chechen acting president. Kadyrov's appointment was widely speculated by observers. [10]

On March 2, 2007, following Putin's nomination of Kadyrov as Chechen president, the Chechen parliament approved the nomination. [11] In several days, serious changes have taken place in the leadership of the republic, affecting not only the top-ranking officials but also the middle-ranking ones. Former deputy prime minister Odes Baysultanov (a cousin of Kadyrov) received the vacated post of prime minister. In the view of local observers, Ramzan Kadyrov is actively building his own "vertical of power" in the republic, placing men of the Beno clan in all the leading and more or less important positions.

On March 13, 2007, gazeta.ru reported that a poll by the independent Levada Center found that only 33 percent of Russians believe that Ramzan Kadyrov can be trusted while 35 percent believe he cannot be trusted. Asked whether they thought Kadyrov could normalize the situation in Chechnya and end the bloodshed there, 31 percent said yes and 38 percent said no.[12]

On March 14, 2007, Kadyrov said that human rights abuses were "a thing of the past" in his republic, rejecting new charges of torture made by the Council of Europe. Two days later he accused the federal authorities of torturing detainees.

On March 19, 2007, Kadyrov vowed to put an end to all remaining guerilla activity in Chechnya within two months.

Kadyrov was sworn in as President of Chechnya on April 5, 2007.^[1]

[edit] Accusations of human rights abuses

Ramzan Kadyrov has often been accused of being brutal, ruthless and anti-democratic; according to media, he was personally implicated in several instances of torture and murder.

German human rights group the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), which branded Kadyrov a "war criminal" who had personally taken part in the torture of civilians, has alleged that up to 70% of recent murder, torture, rape and kidnapping incidents in Chechnya have been committed by Ramzan's thousands-strong paramilitary forces.

The Memorial group investigator said: "Considering the evidence we have gathered, we have no doubt that most of the crimes which are being committed now in Chechnya are the work of Kadyrov’s men. There is also no doubt in our minds that Kadyrov has personally taken part in beating and torturing people. What they are doing is pure lawlessness. To make matters worse they also go after people who are innocent, whose names were given by someone being tortured to death. He and his henchmen spread fear and terror in Chechnya. (...) They travel by night as death squads, kidnapping civilians, who are then locked in a torture chamber, raped and murdered," the group said in a report. [13]

Anna Politkovskaya, a veteran Russian reporter who specialized in Chechnya, claimed that she had been sent video footage of a man identical in appearance to Ramzan. "On them (the clips) were the murders of federal servicemen by the Kadyrovites, and also kidnappings directed by Kadyrov. These are very serious things; on the basis of this evidence a criminal case and investigation should follow. This could allow this person to be brought to justice, something he has long richly deserved," she said. [14]

The Kadyrovites are often accused of working as a death squad against Kadyrov's enemies, and a kidnapping gang. Ramzan is rumored to own a private prison in his stronghold of Tsentoroi, his home village southeast of Grozny. Fields around Tsentoroi are mined and all access routes are blocked by checkpoints. On May 2, 2006, representatives of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) said they were prevented from entering the fortress.

According to the May 15, 2006 International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Places of Detention in the Chechen Republic" report, many illegal places of detention exist in the Chechen Republic; most of them are run by Kadyrovites. In the village Tsentoroi (Khosi-Yurt), where the Kadyrovite headquarters is located, there are at least two illegal prisons functioning. One consists of concrete bunkers or pillboxes, and kidnapped relatives of armed Chechen fighters - parents, wives, brothers or even children - are held there as hostages. The second prison in Tsentoroi is evidently located in the yard - or in immediate vicinity - of the house of Ramzan Kadyrov.

On May 25, 2006, Chechen Human Rights Ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev said: "From now on the situation in the Chechen republic will be closely monitored, and any insults and attacks on Chechen officials, including Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, will be punished." According to Nukhazhiyev's statement "representatives of human rights organizations" drew Kadyrov's attention "to unfounded media accusations of Chechen leaders, including Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov."

Chechen security forces loyal to Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov have begun using cell phones to record videos of themselves torturing and humiliating ordinary Chechens accused of crimes. The videos are later circulated, intimidating civilians. [15]

On October 23, 2006, on the basis of the video tape frames published by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in the article of Anna Politkovskaya, a criminal case has been initiated. Sergey Sokolov, deputy editor-in-chief of the paper, told the Echo Moskvy Radio that it is seen in the films how "Kadyrov's military forces are beating federal soldiers" with participation of "a man looking like Ramzan Kadyrov." [16] Politkovskaya was shot to death in Moscow on October 7, 2006.

In October 2006, a mutined commander Movladi Baisarov said about Kadyrov: "He acts like a medieval tyrant. If someone tells the truth about what is going on, it's like signing one's own death warrant. Ramzan is a law unto himself. He can do anything he likes. He can take any woman and do whatever he pleases with her. (...) Ramzan acts with total impunity. I know of many people executed on his express orders and I know exactly where they were buried." [17] On November 18, 2006, Baisarov was killed in an ambush by members of Kadyrov's police on Moscow's Leninskiy Prospekt, several hundred meters from the Kremlin.

On November 13, 2006 Human Rights Watch published a briefing paper on torture in Chechnya that it had prepared for the 37th session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture. The paper covered torture by personnel of the Second Operational Investigative Bureau (ORB-2), torture by units under the effective command of Ramzan Kadyrov, torture in secret detention and continuing "disappearances." According to HRW, torture "in both official and secret detention facilities is widespread and systematic in Chechnya." In many cases the perpetrators were so confident that there would be no consequences for their abuses that they did not attempt to conceal their identity. Based on extensive research, HRW concluded in 2005 that forced disappearances in Chechnya are so widespread and systematic that they constitute crimes against humanity.

On March 1, 2007 Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group rights organisation, said "Kadyrov is to blame for kidnappings of many innocent people. Their bodies were found later with signs of torture."[18]

On March 13, 2007 the new Council of Europe report said "resort to torture and other forms of ill-treatment by members of law enforcement agencies and security forces continues, as does the related practice of unlawful detentions." The Council said it felt forced to make public its findings in light of the Russian authorities' "failure to improve the situation" despite detailed recommendations following the torture committee's visits to Chechnya last year.

[edit] Trivia

Among the businesses Kadyrov controls are a boxing club called Ramzan, and the Pyatigorsk-based Terek Grozny soccer team. Former American boxer Mike Tyson was a guest in a boxing tournament organized by Kadyrov, an avid boxer, in Gudermes.

He is known for keeping at least four pet lions, as well as a wolf, a bear, an endangered Siberian tiger and a number of a fighting dogs.[19]

At a concert by Chechen pop singer Makka Sagaipova, he got up and proceeded to dance on the stage, as his bodyguards threw thousands of U.S. dollars on the stage.[20]

Ramzan Kadyrov has only a few classes of elementary education finished; at the same time, he has been elected an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences [21] (not to be confused with the Russian Academy of Sciences).

On February 28, 2007, during a visit to Chechnya by participants in the 2007 Mrs. World pageant, Kadyrov offered Caroline Wangare Verkaik, Kenya's contender in the contest, the opportunity to become one of his wives and, as Daily Telegraph put it, "sweetened the proposal by presenting her with two horses, two chickens and a goat."[22]

[edit] Quotes

He said in an interview in October 2005: "I've already killed who I should have killed. And I will kill all of those standing behind them, as long as I myself am not killed or jailed. I will be killing as long as I live… Putin is a beauty. He thinks more about Chechnya than about any other republic. When my father was murdered, he [Putin] personally came down and went to the cemetery. Putin stopped the war. Putin should be made president for life. Strong rule is needed. Democracy is an American invention… Russians never obey their laws. Everyone stole, and only Khodorkovsky is in jail."[23] [24]