Russia: Update to RUS29254.E of 22 April 1998 on the ethnic conflict in Northern Ossetia; and on the treatment of ethnic Ossetians and available protection elsewhere in Russia
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS31750.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russia: Update to RUS29254.E of 22 April 1998 on the ethnic conflict in Northern Ossetia; and on the treatment of ethnic Ossetians and available protection elsewhere in Russia, 1 April 1999, RUS31750.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aba710.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
On 19 March 1999, 62 people were killed and 100 injured when a bomb exploded in the centre of a market in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia located 1,500 kilometres southeast of Moscow. North Ossetia was the scene of violent clashes between Ossetians and Ingush in the early 1990s that led to hundreds of deaths and "massive removals of Ingush" (The New York Times 20 Mar. 1999; Manchester Guardian Weekly 28 mar. 1999; AP 25 Mar. 1999). Although no groups have claimed responsibility for the blast, there are suspicions that the bombing was in retaliation for North Ossetia's support to Russia in its efforts to break the secessionist movement in Chechnia in the mid-1990s (Manchester Guardian Weekly 28 Mar. 1999). Some also suspect that the bombing is related to "rumoured legal changes that would deny the Ingush their right to regain land confiscated during the second world war" (ibid.). Both Chechens and Ingush are ethnically related Muslims while North Ossetians are mainly Orthodox Christians (ibid.).
On 13 September 1998, arsonists set fire to homes in four villages where Ingush refugees had recently returned after fleeing the 1992 violence in North Ossetia (AP 13 Sept. 1998). The fires destroyed 200 hundred homes (ibid.).
The current ethnic tensions in North Ossetia originated over the status of the land claimed by the Muslim Ingush who were massively deported in 1944 with other Muslim groups for having allegedly collaborated with the Nazis in World War II (World Directory of Minorities 1997, 305; AP13 Sept. 1998). North Ossetia then took over control of the "frontier districts of Ingushetia (Prigorodnyi district) and parts of the city of Valdikavkaz," and the area was resettled by Ossetians (World Directory of Minorities, 305). Although the Ingush were rehabilitated and their autonomy restored, the Ingush territories remained firmly under North Ossetian control (ibid.). When the Ingush were allowed to return in 1957, they found their homes occupied by Ossetians and both groups have ever since claimed the 3,626-square-kilometre Privgorod district which became part of North Ossetia (AP 13 Sept. 1998). Tensions between Ingush and Ossetians began to grow in September 1990 when the Supreme Soviet of North Ossetia suspended Ingush citizenship rights as Ossetians (World Directory of Minorities, 305). Relations between the two groups became worse when the Russian parliament introduced in 1991 the 'Law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples' (ibid.). A state of emergency was introduced in North Ossetia and the Ingush Republic on 2 November 1992 as conflict broke out between Ingush and Ossetians over the Prigorodnyi district and "thousands of troops" were sent into the region (ibid.). The conflict continued in 1993 and caused the departure of 30,000 Ingush refugees (ibid.).
For further information on the conflict in North Ossetia and interethnic strife in the Caucasus in general, please refer to the attached excerpts of a report produced in 1998 by the New York-based Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute entitled Coping with Conflict: A Guide to the Work of Local NGO's in the North Caucasus.
No information additional to RUS29254.E of 22 April 1998 on the treatment of ethnic Ossetians and protection available to them throughout Russia could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Associated Press (AP). 25 March 1999. "Yeltsin Meets Security Chief to Discuss Bombing Investigation." (NEXIS)
_____. 13 September 1998. Judith Ingram. "Refugees' Homes Burned by Arsonists." (NEXIS)
Manchester Guardian Weekly. 28 March 1999. Tom Whitehouse. "Bomb at Russian Market Kills 62." (NEXIS)
The New York Times. 20 March 1999. Celestine Bohlen. "Midday Bomb in Caucasus Market Kills 62 and Hurts 100." (NEXIS)
World Directory of Minorities. 1997. Edited by Minority Rights Group. London:
Minority Rights Group International.
Attachment
Open Society Institute, New York, NY. 1998. Todd Diamond. Coping with Conflict: A Guide to the Work of Local NGO's in the North Caucasus. New York : Open Society Institute. [Internet]
Additional Sources Consulted
Electronic sources: Amnesty International on-line [Internet], Human rights Watch (HRW) Search Engine [Internet], Helsinki Human Rights Annual Report 1998 [Internet], Internet, IRB databases, WNC.
La Lettre de la FIDH [Paris]. 1998-1999.
Minahan, James. 1996. Nations Without States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Website.
REFWORLD. July 1998 version (CD-ROM).
Transitions [Prague]. 1998-1999.
United Nations, Human Rights Commission Reports.
