Two Events and Some Outrage

NOW that the obsessive reporting on Y2K bug and millennium celebration have died down, two new disturbing reports have attracted headlines worldwide. The first one involves the news of atrocities committed by the Russian soldiers in Chechnya; while the second one exposes a shameful exploitation of a little boy in the US for political purposes.

First, let's look at the news coming out from Chechnya. In addition to the haphazard mayhem the Russians are perpetrating in Chechnya, there is shocking new evidence that Russian soldiers are also guilty of at least one atrocity that was anything but indiscriminate. In fact, it seems to have been a slaughter that was as methodical as it was appalling.

A wealthy Chechen businessman has emerged from the smoke and misery of the war with a videotape notable for its clarity and power. The tape he shot portrays survivor accounts of a rampage that took place over a two-week period in early December in a Chechen village named Alkan-Yurt, after Russian troops managed to capture it from rebels.

The tape supports allegations by Human Rights Watch that, during the rampage, Russian soldiers murdered at least seventeen villagers, tortured and terrorised others, burned and raided their homes and forcibly took various household items.

Fragments of the dramatic videotape have been broadcast on Russian television, and reports of the atrocity in Alkan-Yurt stirred up a political storm in Moscow. Apparently, some of the same Muscovites who in the past have vigorously cheered the Russian army's rampage in Chechnya now seem appalled by it. Even high-ranking Russian government officials expressed their surprise and dismay in what they saw and had promised a thorough investigation by the government.

Their promise may have been sincere, but it is unlikely to be carried out. The Kremlin has repeatedly proved that it doesn't give a rap about either Chechens or human rights, and to suppose it will punish soldiers guilty of tormenting Chechens is almost certainly wishful thinking.

If the Kremlin fails to identify and punish those responsible for war crimes in Chechnya, then it will have no legitimate grounds to object to an inquiry by others. Unfortunately, Russia would no doubt veto any move by the United Nations to expand the mandate of the UN tribunal now investigating war crimes in Bosnia, Chechnya and Rwanda.

Thus it is unlikely that justice will be meted out to those involved in the war crimes of Alkan-Yurt. That itself will only compound the injustice and provide another dimension to the atrocity that occurred there.

Now, let's consider the events in the US.

Ordinarily, a six-year old boy whose mother had died would be raised by his father. But the case involving six-year old Elian Gonzalez is anything but ordinary. He was rescued in late November while clinging to an inner tube in the waters off the coast of Florida after fleeing Cuba with his mother and others in a boat that had overturned. His mother was among those who died in the accident, and the boy himself has been living with relatives in Miami. His father, who lives in Cuba, wants him home, naturally.

Last week, the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service declared that the boy would be returned to his father in Cuba within two weeks. Both Fidel Castro and his enemies in the US have sought to exploit the young boy for political advantage. But since last week's ruling by the Immigration Service, most of the posturing has been undertaken by the anti-Castro forces. They do not want the boy to be returned to his father in Cuba. Chiefly because of actions by these anti-Castro Cuban expatriates in the US and opportunistic politicians, the welfare of the boy has taken a back seat.

There is no evidence that the father in Cuba has been neglectful or abusive. The boy's family photos and medical and school records in Cuba, which has since been published in newspapers, show the father's involvement in Elian's life.

Those who want the boy to stay in the US discount the father's statements, pointing out that he lives in a country where freedom of expression is suppressed. Are they suggesting that, in spite of his repeated pleas, Elian's father really doesn't want his son back?

Republican Congressman Dan Burton, chairman of a powerful committee in the Congress, was guilty of a particularly outrageous form of exploitation last week when he sought to delay the boy's return to Cuba by issuing him a sub-poena to testify before Congress in early February.

Each day that passes tightens the bonds between Elian and those who care for him in the US. Each day makes it more painful for him to return to his own country and to his father.

Elian Gonzalez has already suffered the pain of losing his mother. He shouldn't have to undergo any more. He deserves a normal like, back home in Cuba, with his father.

These two isolated events go on to show how the super powers ignore the rights of innocent individuals to further their own narrow interests.