WUNRN
Chechnya (/ˈtʃɛtʃniə/; Russian) is a federal subject (a republic) of Russia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechnya
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/will-moscow-allow-polygamy-in-chechnya/520690.html
Will Moscow Allow Polygamy in Chechnya?
·
By Georgy Bovt -
May. 13 2015 17:48
Another
incident, if not outright scandal, has arisen in the relationship between
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the federal center. This time it
resulted from media reports that Kadyrov gave his personal approval
for 46-year-old police department head Nazhud Guchigov to marry
17-year-old Kheda Goylabiyeva.
That alone
is not necessarily a problem: A great difference in age does not
always stop the union of two lovers. However, aside from the
"bride's" tender age, there is another problem: The man is
already married and has no intention of divorcing his wife. In other
words, Guchigov plans to marry a second wife while his first is still
living.
Human
rights activists had earlier reported that the regional police chief was
using force to coerce the young woman into marriage, practically
running a blockade around her house and forbidding her to leave
the territory.
Kadyrov
responded by announcing that he had sent a trusted individual
to speak with the young woman's family and received assurances
that the whole affair was motivated by mutual love and harmony.
Was there ever any doubt?! And to dispel any lingering and unwanted
rumors, Kadyrov sacked Chechnya's press and information minister
for having allowed news of the marriage to spread beyond
the republic's borders.
Several
Russian officials and politicians reacted strongly to the news. State
Duma Deputy Vitaly Milonov, the ever-vigilant and ever-present
champion of "traditional values," called on the Interior
Ministry — the department to which Guchigov, as
a policeman, formally answers — to look into the situation.
Human
Rights ombudswoman Ella Pamfilova also chimed in, albeit rather timidly, saying
only "I hope it doesn't happen" and suggesting that if
the marriage does take place, those responsible should be punished.
Many
Kremlin critics have used this incident to gleefully point out point out
that Kadyrov does not "play by the rules" and that he takes
too much license before Moscow authorities who are reluctant to rein him
in. Some insist that Moscow "bring everything into line with federal
law."
However, if
the "legal discrepancies" between Chechnya and Moscow have
already gone this far and if, in effect, Chechen siloviki no longer
answer to their federal superiors, is it realistic to try to put
that entire relationship "in line with federal law" starting with
this "unequal marriage"?
If Russian
law prevails in this one case, will that bring fundamental change
to federal relations overall? Let's not kid ourselves: it won't.
The situation has already gone too far for that. Indeed, how often is
the law strictly observed on a range of issues in the
tremendously diverse and multicultural Russian Federation?
As we know,
the Russian Empire was not even formally a federation, and yet
it legalized polygamy in the Central Asian regions and for
the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus.
Before
that, it was widely practiced among the Russian merchant class. Merchants
traveled frequently and occasionally started "families
of convenience" in different cities. That practice continued
until the authorities required merchants to declare their marital
status in order to receive permission to travel.
Marital
status was later indicated with a stamp in the passport —
further evidence of the link between the Soviet and modern
passport systems and their imperial predecessor.
Bigamy,
rather than polygamy, was well established under the rule of Imam
Shamil in 19th-century Chechnya. That was especially evident in the
Argun and Ichkeria districts as seen from the census carried out
there shortly after imperial Russian troops prevailed over Shamil's forces,
thus ending the long Caucasian War in 1864.
Still,
the tsarist government accepted this local reality and never tried
to weaken, much less prohibit, the practice.
Of course,
the Soviet government began to fervently fight
the "remnants of the past," eventually, though not
immediately, prohibiting polygamy.
It was made
punishable by law according to the Criminal Code of 1926
and 1960. Even in the period following World War II, there were
several cases involving charges of polygamy every year in the Central
Asian republics.
Polygamy is
also outlawed in modern Russia, although in contrast
to European, U.S. and Canadian law, it carries no specific
punishment. It simply states that nobody who is already married can register
a marriage.
Thus, even
Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev can only reprimand his Chechen
subordinate for "moral inconsistencies," but even he cannot
define what would be considered "consistent with morality"
by Chechen standards.
By the
way, even during the omnipresent and totalitarian rule of the
Soviet regime, marriages in many Muslim regions of the Caucasus were
carried out according to local custom up until the 1960s
and were never registered with the official marriage office.
That is,
the Soviet authorities understood the limits they faced
and waited for the time when increased prosperity and, more
importantly, higher overall levels of education would gradually correct
the situation.
Today
polygamy is practiced not only in Chechnya, but also in other
republics of the North Caucasus — with participants marrying
in mosques instead of registering at the marriage office.
Kadyrov
himself has repeatedly advocated its legalization.
Former
Ingush President Ruslan Aushev issued a similar approval for a
polygamous marriage back in 1999, with the difference that former
Russian President Boris Yeltsin stopped it. Such calls to legalize
polygamy in accordance with Muslim law occasionally arise in Adygeya,
Ingushetia and elsewhere.
Do those
who boldly and loudly insist that Moscow "bring Chechnya fully into line"
understand if that is even a realistic possibility? Are they ready
to rigidly enforce Russia's Family Code in that republic even if it
leads to new terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro and other
Russian cities, or even to a third Chechen war?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-chechen-child-marriage-milashina/27018364.html
RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER DENIES WOMAN JOURNALIST FLED CHECHNYA
AFTER LIFE THREATS OVER POLYGAMY INVESTIGATION IN CHECHNYA
Russian
Journalist Yelena Milashina
By RFE/RL's Russian Service - May
15, 2015
The Russian
daily Novaya Gazeta has denied reports that one of its journalists fled
Chechnya after receiving threats to her life related to her investigative
reporting in the North Caucasus republic.
Award-winning journalist Yelena Milashina has been
reporting on an alleged forced marriage involving a teenage Chechen girl and a
married local police commander. On May 14, Novaya Gazeta reported that
Milashina had been stopped by Chechen police, told about the great attention
being paid to her work, and advised to look out for her personal safety.
Later that day, various media reported that Novaya Gazeta
had pulled her off her special assignment in Chechnya because of threats to her
life. But on May 15 the daily issued a statement specifically denying that
Milashina had left Chechnya due to threats, but had left because "she
urgently needed to be in Moscow."
The statement added that details relating to her
continuing investigation into purported wedding plans involving Chechen police
chief, Nazhud Guchigov, and the 17-year-old girl will be published upon
Milashina's return to the office.
She has reported that Guchigov has threatened reprisals
against the family of the 17-year-old girl, whose name RFE/RL has chosen not to
reveal, if she was not handed over for him to marry.
Polygamy, bride-snatching, and underage marriage are
illegal in Russia, and the story of an older (Guchigov's age has been reported
as both 57 and 46), already married man potentially forcing an underage girl to
marry him has attracted attention at the highest levels of the Chechen and
Russian governments. It has also raised concerns among human rights activists
and led to suggestions that the allegations against Guchigov are the result of a
politically-motivated smear campaign.
The reports emerged in late April, when Milashina wrote
that residents of a Chechen village told her that the teenager's family had
been threatened by Guchigov, who demanded the girl to be given to him as a
second wife.
The local police chief told Novaya Gazeta in early May
that the information was false, that he did not know and had never seen the
girl in question, and was a happily married man.
But the story blew up when, on May 5, Chechnya's
Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov publicly confirmed the planned marriage at
the government's session, saying the girl's family had given its consent.
'Let's Not Be Prudes...'
Russia's presidential envoy for human rights, Ella
Pamfilova, subsequently called on Kadyrov to stop the marriage, sparking a
debate over whether the 17-year-old girl was of legal marriage age.
On May 14, Russia's children rights ombudsman Pavel
Astakhov weighed in on the issue during an interview with the
Moscow-based radio station Russian News Service.
He argued that, while 18 is the legal marriage age in
most of Russia, the country's Family Code allows exceptions for certain
regions. He listed Chechnya among the exceptions, with a legal marriage age of
17.
"Let's not be prudes, emancipation and sexual
maturity happen earlier in the Caucasus," he said. "There are places
where women are already shriveled at age 27, and by our standards they look
like they're 50."
Chechnya's Children's Ombudsman Khamzat Khirakhmatov,
meanwhile, told Govorit Moskva radio recently that the story was fabricated and
was potentially politically motivated.
"To my mind, that is somebody's order to hurt the
police chief. People are just laughing," Khirakhmatov told the
Moscow-based station. "There are no facts; nobody is going to get married.
The girl has just graduated from secondary school and is getting ready for
final exams."
For his part, Chechen leader Kadyrov is sticking to the
love story.
On May 14, he posted famous lines from Alekander
Pushkin's Eugen Onegin on his Instagram account. "Love conquers all,"
he wrote, claiming again that "the girl's parents gave their blessing to
this marriage" and saying that the wedding would be held in June.
With reporting by Interfax and Novaya Gazeta