On September 24, President Putin delivered an ultimatum to all Chechen military units: "within the next 72 hours, turn your weapons in." As two National Public Radio commentators noted, his message did not include an "or else" clause, did not specify the consequences for those who did not obey this ultimatum. The message didn't say at all in which way they must do it.

Following the carnage on September 11, it's probable that the world community will view with favor the head of any country that attempts to achieve peace through dialogue, rather than reaching for the military option. But It is important for those of us who doesn't know much about Chechnya 2000, to be aware of the events that shaped the context in which Chechens view President Putin's "72 hour" ultimatum: the "Amnesty."

The Russian Duma ratified the amnesty in December 1999, and the terms were made to Chechnya shortly thereafter: the fighters in the Chechen resistance units were to be formally amnestied if they surrendered their weapons by February 2000 (this deadline was later extended to May 15, 2000). It is unclear whether the "fine print" terms of the amnesty were conveyed at the same time, especially the "serious crimes" clause: those guilty or suspected of "serious crimes" were to be excluded from the amnesty. What actually constituted serious crimes was not specified; even on paper, the document provided tremendous latitude in dealing with any Chechen who voluntarily participated in the amnesty. In the field, things were much easier. Those who trusted the word of Russia's new president and came forward, unarmed, to turn themselves in to the Russian Federation army were often shot on the spot. Others were sent to filtration camps, where they were tortured; many died from their injuries, or rotten away without any medical help

Perhaps it was naïve for the Chechens to believe, after years of Russian atrocities in the field and repeated broken cease-fires and guarantees from government sources, that this time Russia would keep its word. Perhaps it was naïve to believe that after Vladimir Putin repeatedly declared, "We will not negotiate with the Chechen bandits - they should turn themselves in, and their crimes will be judged in the courts".

With which memory does Chechnya hear President Putin's current ultimatum? The Russian peace organization "Memorial" collected eyewitness accounts of the "amnesty" of 2000. Some of these have additional corroboration from videotapes made by the Russian Federation army at several of its detention centers in Chechnya; many of these are only now being made public. A few excerpts from the Memorial accounts follow:

Chechen boevik [soldier]: After getting out of Grozny, our group found itself in the mountain village of Khersonoy. There was hardly any food or medicine, and some men were fainting from hunger. Our commanders told us about the amnesty, told us we could go down to the Russians and surrender ourselves. We'd be able to re-start a peaceful life...

Adam Avdayev, an administrator in Komsomolskoye region: The boeviks who came to our village - not many did - came to surrender. They all were killed. When they came out to surrender, the Russians fired on them. This happened from the fifth to the ninth of March. We have the list of those who were managed to surrender, but their fate is unknown.

Umar (name is changed): We were allowed into the village immediately after the MChS, the ones who were brought the corpses outside of the village for burial. A lieutenant noted that several corpses had been tied together with barbed wire. He told us that these were men had come forward to surrender.

Boevik: We wanted to make a deal: we offered to return to the Russian Army 29 "special-forces" soldiers we had captured, including a lieutenant colonel, that we otherwise might be shot, and the corpses of 23 men shot while parachuting down: 54 in all. What we asked in return was that 12 of our badly wounded fighters be amnestied by the Russians, who would then drive them to a hospital, under Russian protection. Our wounded asked us to make this contact with the Russians. The Russians accepted the deal, but they didn't live up to their side of the agreement. A Ukrainian Muslim had joined us before the war, and converted to Islam. His name was Dzhabrail: he was shot on the spot. All nearby in the field saw it. We fulfilled our conditions: we gave them 29 men and 23 corpses. To this day, we still do not know the fate of our 11 men, whom we delivered into a Russian word of honor safe-conduct.

Geliskhan (name changed): Special tortures and humiliation were inflicted on those who surrendered. Many of them arrived wounded; their injuries were not treated, and many developed gangrene. The smell from the cells was unbearable. Once two of our unit were taken to another barracks, to wash the wounded - we saw truly horrible conditions.

Idris (Name changed): The first three days we had neither water nor food. Our wounds were not treated, although many of us started to have gangrene. Some died. On the fourth day the commandant and the military doctor came; the latter, with the Chechen doctor, washed and bandaged our wounds. They removed a shard of shrapnel from my body.

And still, the Chechens trusted! Whom?! The Russian authorities? And not only boeviks, but also their commanders; otherwise there wouldn't be orders to come down from the mountains, to join the amnesty, to re-start a peaceful life. And this reveals much about the purity the Chechen character. Trusting in the amnesty, they voluntarily surrendered. They descended by dozens from the mountains, walking straight, raising their arms in surrender when they spotted Russian troops: they were shot on the spot, or after an hour or so of humiliation. Some of them were wounded and were thrown into filthy prison cells. No medical treatment was given, and many developed gangrene and died. The apogee of surrender under the promise of amnesty was in March 2000, and in the village of Komsomolskoye. Gelayev and Barayev, two Chechen commanders, left the village: only the wounded, and those who had decided to stop fighting for peaceful life, remained. Some of them were brought to the filtration camps; it is impossible to know exact numbers, since so many people are afraid to talk. Near Komsomolskoye are large numbers of mass graves, boeviks: in the nearest cemetery, for example, 700 corpses were found. These men had not died in battle: those who excavated the bodies said most were shot in the head. Some had evidence of torture. It is also known that about 40 boeviks who left to be amnestied in the village of Chechen-Aul were shot down there.

The flow of those saying "we wish to be amnestied" drastically decreased and quickly stopped. The Russian generals, in particular Gen. Troshev, cynically repeated: "to all those who have not yet surrendered, change your mind! Surrender, the amnesty is still in effect!" Soon they understood clearly that the Chechens had indeed already changed their minds about the amnesty: no one was appearing to surrender.

So, the reader might ask: did any Chechens really get amnesty? Yes, some did. And here is an excerpt of an interview with one of them.

Abubakar (name is changed, formerly a prisoner in Chernokozovo): Something beyond comprehension was happening. We who had had no connection with any military action were arrested and, under torture, forced to sign papers acknowledging that we are boeviks. Plastic bags were placed on our heads, suffocating us, or other similar actions. We were told, if a delegation to check on prisoners would make a visit: "They will go, but you will stay. We will shoot you!" Maybe they wouldn't shoot us, but beat us half to death. Then suddenly they told us that we had received an amnesty. And it seemed that -even though we were boeviks that we had fought against them they nevertheless didn't shoot us. They were merciful: "Look, see how humane we are! You fought against us! You killed our comrade soldiers, and yet we extend amnesty to you!" With me, about two dozen of these "boeviks" were released from Chernokozovo. Everything was done as a major public event: generals, representatives from Moscow, Putin's representative Mr.Koshman, TV cameras. And (trying to do it before the camera): " You didn't commit serious crimes. You didn't make terrorist acts, you are amnestied! Don't return to the fighting. Return to your peaceful work!"

And everybody who spoke knew for sure that not one of us had ever carried a weapon, and that all this is a show and bluff put on at the order of Moscow.

Vladimir Krylovskiy, New York
Victoria Poupko. Boston