Chechnya and the State of Self-Determination in a Breakaway Region of the Former Soviet Union: Evaluating the Legitimacy of Secessionist Claims
![handle is hein.journals/cjtl34 and id is 263 raw text is: Chechnya and the State of
Self-Determination in a Breakaway Region
of the Former Soviet Union: Evaluating the
Legitimacy of Secessionist Claims
In December 1991, the people of Chechnya became the
center of public attention when the Russian Federation
launched a full-scale military assault on the region in an
effort to put an end to Chechnya's ongoing attempt to
secede. Facing overwhelming odds, Chechen fighters
continue to assert the right to independence and to date,
the fighting has continued in the region. This Note evalu-
ates the legitimacy of the Chechen secession bid in the
context of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and
the formation of the Russian Federation. The author
proposes one approach to the right of self-determination
and secession, looking at the historical and political factors
that are relevant in evaluating the legitimacy of secession
claims. This approach is applied to the successful seces-
sion of Lithuania, highlighting the criteria present in a
successful claim. The criteria are then related to the
circumstances of Chechnya to compare two claims with
many historical and political similarities and to evaluate
their relative strengths. Based on this evaluation, it is
argued that Chechnya has a claim to independence equally
compelling as that ofLithuania and is thus entitled to have
its right to self-determination and independence recognized.
I. INTRODUCTION
Amid the whirlwind of activity surrounding the independence
movements of the Baltic states and the ultimate dissolution of the
Soviet Union, another, largely unnoticed secession bid was occurring
on the fringes of the territory that would shortly become the newly
formed Russian Federation. InNovember 1990, the national congress
of the Chechen people adopted a declaration on the state sovereignty
of the Chechen republic. The declaration stated that the Chechen
people [were] ready to be a sovereign and equal subject of the union](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cjtl34&div=13&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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