In spite of the violent precedent of such units in Chechnya, President Dmitry Medvedev has vindicated calls by some in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan for the creation of anti-terrorist and anti-extremist units staffed by local people. That is an indication of just how poorly the existing policing structures are performing and how powerful the threat from the militants has become.
At a meeting of the Dagestan Anti-Terrorist Commission on
Aug. 9, Dagestan's president, Magomedsalam Magomedov, said the “low
effectiveness” of the current struggle against terrorism and extremism is a
serious issue and that Makhachkala needs to take new measures now.
Magomedov said that since the start of 2010, “more than
250 people” in the republic have suffered from attacks, which have been
occurring in more locations throughout the republic than ever. “One must
recognize that out responses and the actions of the force structures have not
been as effective as we would like,” he continued.
Indeed, given “the growing activity of underground bands,
the number of successfully conducted counter-terrorist operations that have
liquidated or detained militants has become fewer than [the same figure] during
the same period last year,” Magomedov said.
He told the commission that he had proposed to Moscow the
creation of “special subunits” consisting of Dagestanis who will be
"involved with questions of countering terrorists and extremists.
The regional president said that "at this stage,
work is being conducted in the government of the Republic of Dagestan for the
formation of a special fund to support these activities.”
In addition, it was indicated at the meeting by Magomedov
that the responsibilities of these new units would include guarding Dagestan's
critically important hydroelectric stations. There are seven major ones and
four minor ones, and their security has been a major concern for Moscow
officials, including Deputy Energy Minister Andrei Shishkin, who recently
visited the republic.
According to an article published Aug. 13 in Kommersant,
Magomedov is now saying Medvedev has “approved the creation in the republic of
‘a special subunit with no fewer than 800’” officers and men “for conducting
special and military operations in the mountainous and forested areas” of
Dagestan.
Dagestani First Deputy Prime Minister Rizvan Kurbanov is
the person overseeing the local silovki, or military and other policing groups.
He said the new units would consist of two to three battalions and would be
more effective in “restoring order” ― because “unlike the federals, they on
their own territory, know all the mountain roads and pathways, and even by
external signs can distinguish representatives of traditional Islam from
extremism.”
That brand of profiling is exactly what worries some
Dagestan watchers. However, Kurbanov insisted that no one “intends to copy the
Chechen defenders of order” in Dagestan. Just one of the differences between
Makhachkala's plans and Grozny's units, he said, is that the Dagestani units
won't use any former militants in their ranks. Instead, they will use only
those who are committed to the government side.
For this proposal to take off, Kommersant pointed out,
there will have to be “a corresponding decree of the president” confirming “the
composition, number and structure of the forces” and also defining their bases
and relationship to existing Interior Ministry units in Dagestan.
Despite pledges that these new units won't repeat the
behavior of the north and south battalions in Chechnya, many in Makhachkala and
probably in Moscow are skeptical about this idea and oppose it. Magomed
Shamilov, the head of an independent union of internal security and prosecutor
workers in Dagestan, told Kommersant that he and his colleagues are
“categorically against the creation of such battalions.”
Whatever people say now about the units' intentions, and
whatever the units are called, he said, “these will be subunits that will be
involved in the destruction of Dagestanis who ― by fate or out of their own
mistakes ― turn out to be on ‘that side.’” In other words, Shamilov suggested,
Dagestanis who aren't militants will be killed because people who claim they
are, or because republic officials view them as enemies.
Religious Muslim groups are worried as well. According to
one Islamic blog, Kurbanov’s certainty that Dagestanis will be able to
distinguish “traditional” Muslims from “radical” ones likely means that any
such new units will treat all those wearing a beard as Wahhabis by definition,
a dangerous assumption indeed.
**Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and
religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and
publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. He has served as vice dean
for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and as
a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in
Estonia.
Earlier, he served in the U.S. State Department, the
Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau, as well
as at Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.Mr. Goble can be contacted directly at
paul.goble@gmail.com