Analysts point to the inadmissibility of forced reconciliation of blood feudists in Chechnya

The authorities' and clergymen's efforts in Chechnya to reconcile the blood feudists can be assessed as positive, but the reconciliation should not be forced, analysts have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Chechen authorities periodically report on reconciliation of warring families. On July 24, two families reconciled in Grozny; they had been at odds for 26 years due to the death of a young man.

Even if it is unacceptable to force blood feudists to reconcile, the fact in itself is better than the continuation of hostility, Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*, has noted, adding that in Chechnya, the reconciliation tradition of blood feudists exists on its own and without any authorities' intervention. She has also stressed that even 25 years of subdued hostility can lead to revenge killings.

The contradiction in Chechen authorities' actions, when, on the one hand, they reconcile, and on the other hand, they themselves declare blood feuds against critics, can negatively affect the society, Ms Gannushkina* has noted.

Reconciliation of blood feudists is better than the state of ongoing blood feud, Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender believes. There is no statute of limitations for blood feuds, he has stressed.

Chechen authorities are behaving inconsistently: on the one hand, reporting on reconciliation of blood feudists, and on the other, declaring blood feuds against other people, Mr Titiev has added.

The blood feud has no statute of limitations, unless an act of reconciliation has taken place, Sergey Arutyunov, an expert on the Caucasus, has also noted. The concept of coercion is alien to Caucasian traditions, he has added.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.