Chechen prime minister Akhmed Zakayev sheds light on the brutal repression of the Chechen people by the Russian state. Zakayev shares the shocking statistics of Chechnya’s struggle for self-determination—250,000 civilian deaths, including 40,000 children, and more than 300,000 refugees. Zakayev argues that the case of Chechnya is a kind of litmus test for human rights: how can the rights and freedoms of individuals be preserved, when the rights of entire nations are being violated? Zakayev urges the international community to appeal to politicians to pressure Russia so that Chechnya can become a free and peaceful country.
