Ossetian–Ingush conflict

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=War in Prigorodny District


caption=Map of the Prigorodny District inside North Ossetia
date=October 30, 1992 - November 6, 1992
place= Prigorodny District, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Borderland with Ingushetia
casus=Ethnic land dispute between Ossetians and Ingush over the status of Prigorodny district
territory=
result=Ethnic cleansing of ethnic Ingush from Prigorodny district by Ossetian militia
combatant1=flagicon|South Ossetia Ossetian militia and security forces
flagicon|South Ossetia Republican Guard
flagicon|Russia Russian Army
combatant2=
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=~52 dead
Unknown wounded
casualties2=~600 dead [Russia: The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region (Paperback) by Human Rights Watch Helsinki Human Rights Watch (April 1996) ISBN 1564321657]
939 wounded [Prague Watchdog Report, published July 28, 2006]
casualties3=About 60,000 Ingush and 9,000 Ossetian refugees
notes=

The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict refers to the inter-ethnic conflict in Prigorodny District, part of Russian federal subject of Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which started in 1989 and developed into a brief ethnic war in 1992 between local Ingush and Ossetian paramilitary units.

According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch, the campaign of ethnic cleansing was orchestrated by the Ossetian militants, during the events of October and November 1992, which resulted in death of more than 600 Ingush civilians and expulsion of approximately 60,000 Ingush inhabitants from Prigorodny District. [Russia: The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region (Paperback) by Human Rights Watch Helsinki Human Rights Watch (April 1996) ISBN 1564321657]

Origins of the conflict

During the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, part of Ingush territory was colonized by OssetiansFact|date=October 2008 and Russians. Russian General Evdokimov and Ossetian colonel Kundukhov in Opis No. 436 "gladly reported", that the result of colonization of Ingush land was successful:

Ingush village "Ghazhien-Yurt" was renamed to "Stanitsa Assinovskaya" in 1847,
Ingush village "Ebarg-Yurt" was renamed to "Stanitsa Troitskaya" in 1847,
Ingush town "Dibir-Ghala" was renamed to "Stanitsa Sleptsovskaya" in 1847,
Ingush village "Magomet-Khite" was renamed to "Stanitsa Voznesenskaya" in 1847,
Ingush village "Akhi-Yurt" was renamed to "Stanitsa Sunzhenskaya" in 1859,
Ingush village "Ongusht" was renamed to "Stanitsa Tarskaya" in 1859,
Ingush town "Ildir-Ghala" was renamed to "Stanitsa Karabulakskaya" in 1859,
Ingush village "Alkhaste" was renamed to "Stanitsa Feldmarshalskaya" in 1860,
Ingush village "Tauzen-Yurt" was renamed to "Stanitsa Vorontsov-Dashkov" in 1861,
Ingush village "Sholkhi" was renamed to "Khutor Tarski" in 1867.

The Russians also built the fortress Vladikavkaz (ruler of the Caucasus) on the place of Ingush village of Zaur.cite book |author= P.G.Butkov |title= Materials of the new history of the Caucasus years 1722-1803 St. Petersburg 1869 (page 165) ] cite book |author= E.Bronevski |title= New geographical and historical perspectives of the Caucasus. Moscow, 1823 (vol.2 page 159)] cite book |author= U. Klaprot |title= Travel in the Caucasus and Georgia 1807-1808. Berlin 1812 (page 651)] cite book |author= N.Grabovski |title= Ingush nation (their life and traditions) Tiflis 1876 (page 2)] cite book |author= K.Raisov |title= New illustrated guide in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Odessa 1897 (page 295)] cite book |author= G.G. Moskvitch |title= Illustrated practical guide in the Caucasus. Odessa 1903 (pages.161-162)] cite book |author= N.M. Suetin |title= Geodesy of the Vladikavkaz. Vladikavkaz 1928 (page 12)] cite book |author= V.P. Khristianovich |title= Mountainous Ingushetia Rostov-on-Don 1928 (page 65)] cite book |author= E.I.Krupnov |title= Middle age Ingushetia Moscow, 1971 (page 166)]

In 1924, the Ingush Autonomous Oblast was created, which included the Prigorodny district and part of Vladikavkaz, populated mainly by ethnic Ingush. In 1934 by the Soviet decree from Moscow, the Ingush Autonomous Republic was merged with Chechen Autonomous Oblast allocating Vladikavkaz territories of the Ingush to the newly created North Ossetia, leaving Prigorodny district under the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Republic. In 1944 near the end of World War II the Ingushes and the Chechens were accused of collaborating with the Nazis and by the orders of Stalin hundreds of thousands of Ingush and Chechens were deported to Central Asian and Siberia due to the alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. Soon after, depopulated Prigorodny District was transferred to North Ossetia. [A. Dzadziev. The Ingush-Ossetian conflict: The Roots and the Present Day // Journal of Social and Political Studies. 2003, № 6 (24)]

In 1957, the repressed Ingush and Chechens were allowed to return to their native land and Chechen-Ingush Republic was restored, however, leaving Prigorodny district under the control of North Ossetia. Soviet authorities prevented Ingush from returning to their territory in Prigorodny district, however, Ingush families managed to move in, purchase houses back from the Ossetians and resettle the district in greater numbers. [A. Dzadziev. The Ingush-Ossetian conflict: The Roots and the Present Day // Journal of Social and Political Studies. 2003, № 6 (24) ] This gave rise to the idea of "restoring historical justice" and "returning native lands", among the Ingush population and intelligencia, which contributed to the already existing tensions between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush. Between 1973 and 1980 the Ingush voiced their demands of reunification of Prigorodny district with Ingushetia by staging various protests and meetings in Grozny.

The situation deteriorated in early 1991, when the Ingush openly declared their rights to the Prigorodny district according to the Soviet law adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 26 1991, 3rd and the 6th articles on "territorial rehabilitation"." The law gave the Ingush legal grounding for their demands, which caused serious turbulence in the region with free access to weapons, resulting in an armed conflict between ethnic Ingush population of Prigorodny district and Ossetian armed militias from Vladikavkaz. [ The Ossetian-Ingush Conflict: Perspectives of Getting out of Deadlock Moscow. Russian Independent Institute of Social and National Probles, Professional Sociological Assiciation. ROSSPEN. 1998. p.30]

Armed conflict

Intercommunal violence rose steadily in the area of Prigorodny District, to the east of the Terek River, despite the introduction of 1,500 Soviet Internal Troops to the area.

During the summer and early autumn of 1992, there was a steady increase in the militancy of Ingush nationalists. At the same time, there was a steady increase in incidents of organized harassment, kidnapping and rape against Ingush inhabitants of North Ossetia by their Ossetian neighbours, police, security forces and militia. [Russia: The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region (Paperback) by Human Rights Watch Helsinki Human Rights Watch (April 1996) ISBN 1564321657] Ingush fighters marched to take control over Prigorodny District and on the night of October 30 1992, open warfare broke out, which lasted until November 6. While Ingush militias were fighting the Ossetians in the district and on the outskirts of the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz, Ingush from elsewhere in North Ossetia were forcibly evicted and expelled from their homes. Russian interior forces actively participated in the fighting and sometimes led Ossetian fighters into battle. [Russia: The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region (Paperback) by Human Rights Watch Helsinki Human Rights Watch (April 1996) ISBN 1564321657]

On October 31 1992, a high-level Russian delegation arrived to stop the violence, however, the first deployment of Russian peacekeepers did not begin until early November. Although Russian troops often intervened to prevent horrendous acts of violence by Ossetian police and republican guards, the stance of the Russian peacekeeping forces was strongly pro-Ossetian, [A. Dzadziev. The Ingush-Ossetian conflict: The Roots and the Present Day // Journal of Social and Political Studies. 2003, № 6 (24) ] not only objectively as a result of its deployment, but subjectively as well. President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree, that the Prigorodny District was to remain part of North Ossetia on November 2.

The hostilities and reprisals in North Ossetia produced approximately 590 deaths, 1,000 injured and 1,200 hostages among Ingush civilians as well as 65,000 Ingush and 9,000 Ossetian refugees.Russia: The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region (Paperback) by Human Rights Watch Helsinki Human Rights Watch (April 1996) ISBN 1564321657]

Allegations of ethnic cleansing

According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch, war crimes and ethnic cleansing were committed by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush civilians. Human Rights Watch collected numerous video and photo materials showing extreme brutality carried out by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush inhabitants of the District. The report on human rights violations and war crimes was drafted by the organization, which was published in April 1996 with detailed description of massacres of the Ingush civilians, which took place during the events of October and November. [Quoted in Zdravomyslov. The Ossetian-Ingush Conflict: Perspectives of Getting out of Deadlock Moscow. Russian Independent Institute of Social and National Probles, Professional Sociological Association. ROSSPEN. 1998. p.102]

The pressure from Moscow and the Russian-mediated Ossetian-Ingush agreement of 1995 induced the North Ossetian authorities to allow Ingush refugees from four settlements in the Prigorodny District to return to their homes. The return of most refugees had been blocked by the local government and only the Ossetians had been able to return since. Meanwhile, the former Ingush homes and settlements in the District have been gradually occupied by the Ossetian refugees from Georgia.

On October 11, 2002, the presidents of Ingushetia and North Ossetia signed "The Agreement for Promoting Cooperation and Neighbourly Relations" between the republics, in which Ingush refugees and human rights advocates invested much hope. However, the Beslan hostage crisis of 2004 hampered the return process and worsened Ossetian-Ingush relations.

References

ee also

*Georgian-Ossetian conflict

External links

* [http://www.rand.org/publications/CF/CF129/CF-129.chapter1.html Ossetia-Ingushetia]
* [http://www.policy.hu/sokirianskaia/research.html Getting back home? Towards sustainable return of Ingush forced migrants and lasting peace in Prigorodny District of North Ossetia]