Circassian Congress demands recognition of Genocide of Adygeyan People

´´The reference´´ of Adygeyan republican social movement ´´Circassian Congress´´ to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation.

Russian REGNUM News Agency informs that ´´The Reference´´ of the Adygeyan republican social movement ´´Circassian Congress´´ to the chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation Boris Gryzlov is accepted in the reception of this federal legislature.

´´The Reference´´ contains the requirement of recognition of Adygeyan (Circassian) people´s genocide in the course and after the Russian-Caucasian war of XIX century.

´´The Reference´´ is enclosed more than 500 archival documents: official documents of imperial generals, other military leaders who directly organized destruction of Adygeyan settlements, extermination of their inhabitants.

All these documents are on a CD.

The documents are handed over on June 1, 2005 and the term of their consideration as it was explained in the reception, is 30 days.

MORE of ´´The Reference´´ for your perusal:

Circassian Congress of Adygeya demands to recognize genocide of Adygeyan People

´´The Reference´´ of Adygeyan republican social movement ´´Circassian Congress´´ to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation

On May 21st 2005 it has been 141 year since the end of the Russian Caucasian war of the XIX century, one of the longest and bloodiest in mankind´s history.

In historiography, dedicated to the events of that time, numbering hundreds and thousands books, articles, essays in many languages of the world, there are available data about features of that war.

Now it is possible to consider as a fact that the war of the Russian empire against mountaineers of the Northern Caucasus differed radically from wars Russia had in Europe against France, Austria, Prussia and other countries in various periods of time.

Within accidents with the European countries some written and unwritten war rules Russia executed; still Caucasian people had been put outside of the civilized society´s laws.

Archival documents including reports, official papers, prescriptions of commanders of the regular Russian armies, commanders of groups taken part in battles against the mountaineers, actions of atamans of irregular Cossack armies testifies that grades of the Russian army were not satisfied with usual military actions against the mountaineers who resisted the empire with weapon in hands.

In numerous documents there are facts which allow to draw the main conclusion that Russian policies in Caucasus during the XIX century cannot be considered as usual military activities for success victory to impose a will to the opponent, but as a war in which a task of elimination out from the world ethnic map of the whole nation had been put.

Otherwise it is impossible to explain reasons for unprecedented cruelty shown by the Russian armies in the Northern Caucasus, and their reprisals against the peace population.

There had been innumerous murders of old men, women and children; kidnapping; purposeful destruction of means of life support of Adygeyan (Circassian) ethnos auls, gardens, fields, fodder.

There had been actions of commanders of the Russian divisions and groups which followed direct instructions of their deputies in Caucasus, who considered starvation to be the only possible instrument for the mountaineers´ pacifying.

In 1859 the war in the Northeast Caucasus came to the end with capitulation and capture of Shamil the imam of Chechen Republic and Dagestan.

The war in the Northwest Caucasus against Adygs (Circassians) proceeded another 5 years, till May 21st 1864. However the Russian politicians and generals were not limited to the reached victory and subjected the West Caucasian mountaineers to a mass deportation.

Just according to the official data (A. Berje) among more than one million of Adygs (Circassians) over 400 thousand person were killed during the war; 497 thousand persons were deported; in the historical native land for about 80 thousand Adygs remained.

That had become in fact an ethnic cleaning, an unprecedented for that time, grandiose in its scales.

Replacement of the Circassian population out of the limits of Caucasus proceeded down till the beginning of the World War I.

In the historical scientific literature dedicated to the tragic events in the Northern Caucasus of the XIX century, the Russian empire´s policies are designated with the term ´´genocide.´´

It is used both by foreign and domestic science.

It is necessary to note that scales of reprisals against the peoples of the Northern Caucasus, in particular against Adygs (Circassians), according to their destructive actions fairly fall under this definition.

However the tragic events of the XIX beginning of the XX centuries had not received till now any political legal estimation of the official circles of Russian Federation which proclaimed itself as a law successor of the USSR and the Russian state (empire).

In spite of the fact that in ´´the Reference to the peoples of Caucasus ´´ with which the president of Russian Federation Yeltsin acted on May 18th 1994 in commemoration of the 130th anniversary since the end of the Russian-Caucasian war, had the recognition of validity of the mountaineers´ struggle for freedom and independence, in that document there was no any recognition of the fault of the imperial government for the genocide committed against the peoples of the Northern Caucasus.

The decision of the Supreme Council of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of February 7th 1997 and the reference of the president of Adygeya Republic and the State Soviet-Khase of Adygeya Republic of April 29th 1996 addressed the State Duma with an offer to make a legal estimation of the fact of genocide committed by Russian tsarism against Adygeyan (Circassian) ethnos, were left without any consequences.

Adygeyan public till now has no any data concerning further destiny of these documents.

Meanwhile hundred thousands of Adygs (Circassians) in Russia, for about 3 million our compatriots abroad wait from the leadership of Russian Federation passing of a document which would state a political-legal estimation to the actions of the Russian empire´s rulers.

No reasons of the Russian politicians, jurists, historians of the past and the present (which have the purpose to rehabilitate the tsarist policy in the Northern Caucasus of the XIX beginning of the XX centuries under a pretext of protection of Russian economic and geopolitic interests in the region) can anyhow excuse extermination of the entire people.

It is known that the State Duma of Russian Federation on April 4th 1995 made a statement, in which it recognized the fact of genocide committed by Turkey against Armenians in 1915.

In the statement it was written that the State Duma, ´´basing on the incontestable historic facts testifying to extermination of Armenians on the territory of the Western Armenia in 1915, following spirit and letter accepted on December 9th 1948 by the United Nations Organization the Convention on the prevention of genocide and punishment for it, to the Convention on inapplicability of limitation period to war crimes and crimes against humanity, (November 26th 1968), aspiring to revival of humanistic traditions of the Russian state, condemns organizers of 1915-1922 extermination, expresses the sympathy for Armenian people and considers the date of April 24th as the Day of memory of victims of the genocide.´´

Probably, if having recognized the fact of the genocide committed by the Russian empire against Adygeyan (Circassian) ethnos, Russian leadership and its supreme legislative body the State Duma would have showed the whole world its good will and ability to be consecutive in realization of the principles of freedom and democracy, humanism and validity, in aversion of xenophobia and national, racial and religious intolerance, proclaimed by Russia just as it is underlined in the statement about the genocide of Armenians.

Adygeyan Republican social movement ´´Circassian Congress´´, addressing to the deputies of the State Duma, expresses a hope that the supreme legislature of Russian Federation will consider understandably this reference as well as applied documents and will express the attitude to this issue.

The appendix: archival documents in three volumes.
Volume I (275 p.), volume II (197 p.), volume III (214 p.), and the Collection of the international legal acts of responsibility for genocide.

Chairman of ARSM ´´ Circassian Congress´´

Murat Berzegov 28.05.2005

Republic of Adygeya, Maykop, Kommunarov Street 13/A

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