Ingushetia becomes second Chechnya under Russian violence

Russia, who is concidered as guarantor in Ingushetia against Georgian violence, fights against civilians of the republic under unnamed struggle.

Russia has deployed in Ingushetia with via its intelligence service KGB and special teams under the special operations since 2007. After that Russian terrorism against Muslim public uprised, said World Bulletin columnist Fehin Tastekin in his article whish written following his Ingushetia visit.

The Moscow Helsinki Group said on September the federal authorities in the Caucasus republic are engaged in kidnappings, torture and extra-judicial killings.

"What's happening there is unthinkable and shouldn't happen in a country which respects the rule of law," MHG president Lyudmila Alexeyeva said at a news conference in Moscow.

The group directly accused the Kremlin-backed authorities in the tiny republic of engaging in state-sponsored terror.

"In Ingushetia, they arrive at people's homes, some are taken away, others are killed right away, there is torture. These actions by the authorities can never be justified in the name of fighting terrorism," Ms Alexeyeva said.

"One part of the population is keeping quiet, but another part is taking up the fight. Fear creates rebellion, the federal government takes responsibility for that," Valery Borshchev said.

Russian policy in Muslim region threatens to destabilise the north Caucasus with increasing violence between Russian forces and pro-independence Muslim fighters in Ingushetia, just west of Chechnya.

The local branch of Russian human rights group Memorial said 93 people were killed in clashes in the year to the end of August - a big toll for a region with a population of only 470,000.

Human rights groups blame security forces and say such methods drive young men to take up arms. "Ingushetia is virtually out of control," Akiyev said.

In November of last year, a six-year-old boy was killed by security forces during a raid on a home in search of Islamic fighters.

The region, wedged between Chechnya and North Ossetia, is one of Russia's poorest, with unemployment estimated at about 75%.

According to Svedov, editor of the daily news website "KAVKAZSKY UZEL" (CAUCASUS KNOT), the improper collection of taxes, lack of an independent judiciary and absence of political and legal freedoms, is radicalizing the populations of the North Caucasus regions.

More than 80,000 people have signed a petition in Ingushetia calling on the authorities to sack the Kremlin-backed president and reappoint a previous leader, activists said on Monday.

Ingushetia is a small Muslim republic with less than 500,000 people which borders Chechnya where fought two wars against Russian forces since 1994.