Muftiyat of Chechnya: special commission reconciles 18 blood feudists

The special commission for reconciliation of families in the state of blood feud, which was set up in Chechnya in August, has reconciled 18 blood feudists. According to the republic's Muftiyat, the commission still has 40 more cases pending consideration.

The special commission for reconciliation of blood feudists was set up in Chechnya under the order of President Ramzan Kadyrov, who had earlier addressed the local clergy with an appeal to reconcile all the conflicting families before the end of the sacred Moslem month of Ramadan.

According to an employee of the Muftiyat, the commission "continues its active work towards reconciling the families in the state of blood feud." "Within less than three weeks, it managed to consider and settle 18 such cases. It is a very good result, especially if we remember that reconciliation of feudists is a very hard task. In some cases the blood feud lasts not for years, but even for decades, and it's very difficult to convince feudists to refuse from revenging," the source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"At present, 56 families in Chechnya are in the state of blood feud. In the near future the commissions will consider and try to settle about 40 such cases," the source has noted and added that "starting from 2002, due to the efforts of Ahmat-Hadji Kadyrov, the previous President of Chechnya, 349 blood feudists have been reconciled."

Local observers note that the blood feud in today's Chechnya has its peculiarities. Thus, in particular, President Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly stated that if a militant kills a law enforcer, the blood feud will cover all the militant's relatives, while the families of liquidated members of the armed underground have no right to openly announce the blood feud to law enforcers; however, individual terror may take place in such cases.