FEMALE SUICIDE TERRORISM - BLACK WIDOWS -

Current Affairs: Conflict and Violence in Contemporary Eastern Europe

Tereza Režnarová 201200250 Mark Eaton May 29, 2012

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 2. Terrorism ...................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Suicide Terrorism ..................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Female Suicide Terrorism ........................................................................................ 4 3. Chechnya and Women ................................................................................................. 4 4. Female Chechnya’s Terrorism: Black Widows ......................................................... 5 4.1 Black Widows ........................................................................................................... 5 4.2BlackWidowsandfewoftheirtargetsinRussia .............................................................. 6 4.3 Black Fatima ............................................................................................................ 7 4.4Interviews with the closest people of Black Widows ................................................. 7 5. Two the worst massacres ............................................................................................. 8 5.1 Dubrovka’s massacre ............................................................................................... 8 5.2 Beslan’s massacre .................................................................................................... 9 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 11 7. Reference List ............................................................................................................. 12

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1. Introduction
Female suicide terrorism is phenomenon which attracts attention with strangeness. Women are known as creatures who are giving life, take care of family and keep house. This issue is so very big contrast to social status of women. Yet, the female terrorism, it is nothing new but we can see the rapid progress in last years. Maybe the first female suicide bomber appeared in 1980’ concretely in 1985 when sixteen years old girl committed suicide attack in Lebanon (Cronin 2003: 12-13). The terrorism in general is largely connected with men from Islamic area who revere their religious belief and they fight for the honor or for political reasons. We can find many sources about the Islamic terrorist’s organizations but not many about female terrorism in general because reasons of their acting are basically very inconsistent (Foltín, Řehak 2007: 58). The aim of this essay is to describe the main problem of the female suicide terrorism in general. First of all it is necessary to mention what is terrorism and how the medial sources present it. Important component is suicide terrorism in general and suicide female terrorism afterwards which this work is mostly about because female suicide terrorism is very smart way how to surprise the target unnoticed. It is very interesting topic which is not very often mentioned in media. The whole work is focused on Chechnya were the problem with female suicide terrorism appeared predominantly because of the war between Russia and Chechnya in 90’. To see and possibly to understand the main issue of female suicide terrorism it is important to mention the social status of women in Chechnya’s society and how the war changed this status. Over this part of this topic we come to the main issue – Black Widows. In this work will be mentioned why they were named in this way and what is their biggest reason to selfsacrifice them as martyrs during bomb attacks. For the explanation and try to show main problems were used short parts from interviews made by French writer Anne Nivat from the work of Cindy Ness, Female Terrorism and Militancy: Agency, Utility and Organization which was written in 2007. To give a sense were also used examples of few bomb attacks made by Black Widows individual. The whole work is finished with two biggest massacres which were committed by terrorist organizations including Black Widows who were part of them. First mentioned massacre is Dubrovka’s massacre which happened in 2002 in Russia, in Moscow’s
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DubrovkaTheater and the second one is from another siege which happened two years after in Beslan in North Ossetia which was the worst terrorist attack until today in case of Chechnya’s terrorism.

2. Terrorism
When we are talking about the global security problem, in that case the terrorism catch mostly the whole attention. This phenomenon in general has many different definitions but they are identical in statement that terrorism is something what is prepared and elaborated in advance. The target of the attack is cause the fear and achieves the requirement which is for example religious, political or ideological (BIS)1. Terrorism has relatively long history and was applied in a different way. The attacker had has not always the chance to use explosive therefore the terrorist attacks were more symbolical and it was more like a murder of concrete person. About this cared mostly someone named Assassin who killed someone on public place during public events. The form of today’s terrorism as we know is primarily because of invention of the dynamite and also because of the easy access to weapons of masses destruction. (Cronin 2003: 3-5) 2.1 Suicide Terrorism One of the most specific terrorist attacks is suicide terrorism. Also in this case is possible to say that this form has long history. Suicide attacks with the target of remove someone was used already by Judaic sects in 1st century AD. Another case of suicide attackers was during the Crusade by Assassins or during the Second World War by Japanese Kamikaze (Atran 2003: 28). Probably the most exact name for suicide attackers is “smart bomb”. They know when to activate the explosive especially in a very good time. The attacker knows that if he/she failed the pre-prepared attack will not be successful. Dr. Boaz Ganor states: “A suicide attack is an operational method in which the very act of the attack is dependent upon the death of the perpetrator” (Ganor 2000: 5-6) The biggest benefit of suicide attacks is fact that there is no need to find the escape route for the attacker and terrorist organizations are not scared that the attacker will be captured and interrogated. Today’s organizations are using frustrated individuals who are
1

BIS – Bezpečnostní Informační Služba; SIS – Security Information Service

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confirmed for rightness and essential of the self-sacrifice. It is not only the easiest realization of the terrorist attack but it has also big psychological effect to the public society (Zedalis 2004: 1) It also depends on the type of persons who are mostly widows or bereaved siblings who want revenge for their loved ones who found the death during the war (what is the case f. e. of Black Widows) or the society dropped them away and they have no other reason for living. (Cronin 2003: 6) 2.2 Female Suicide Terrorism Inasmuch as the most effective aspect of suicide terrorism is the moment of surprise, the women are the best tool of attack and they have more possibilities to get closer to the object. Because they are known as non-violent gender no one expect that they can be the main part of the terrorist attack and that is why they are so underrate in this case. Women are not often searched during the inspection, oftentimes they pass by the security unnoticed. Moreover they are perfect to cause bigger psychical effect – bigger attention in media and attacks by women are calling for more discussions because it looks frightful (Zedalis 2004: 7). About the training of female attackers are not many sources. Some of them are saying they have no training and some of them mention existence of training camps. It always depends on the organization individual. But one aspect for the preparation is same for everyone and it is keep them in conviction of self-sacrifice. (Zedalis 2004: 9-10)

3. Chechnya and women
‘Chechen women are much more emancipated than their Arab sisters. While family structure is still traditional, it is common for Chechen women to attend university and to hold full-time jobs outside their homes.’ (Speckhard, Akhmedova 2006: 72) 3.1 Women in the society Chechnya’s women in the society have normally very big honor. They are bearers of moral value and it has to do with approach to them. Women are also the only ones who can to stop the blood vengeance or conflict between clans. This honor is also evident on the fact that they are only ones who can ask for divorce what we cannot find by the other Caucasus ethnic (Štětina 2006). But today’s social’s status of women is getting worse because of growth of

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Islamic traditions which not every woman accept. Many attacks from the side of men appeared in last time. Sometimes it’s only because women don’t wear scarfs over their head. In connection with the war and with everything what happened afterwards the social’s status of woman in Chechnya rapidly declined. Because of the fall of economic system and big decline of men population women took the responsibility for family and its survival. Till that time young Chechnya’s girls could attend the school but everything changed. Unfortunately also the sexual harassment and rape appeared as something usual and normal. This is also one of the aspects for female suicide terrorism or self-sacrifice during the attack because after the Chechnya’s tradition, rape woman is banished out of the society and it is expected that this girl or woman will commit suicide or she will be murdered by her own family (Liborakina 1996).

4. Female Chechnya’s terrorism: Black Widows
Not everyone see the main result in terrorism or violence in general. After the war the entire Chechnya was devastated but there are still people who believe in peace. The fear and desire after revenge is stronger though and women start to take it into their hands. Even it is something unusual and it denies the status of woman in Chechnya when it is expected that she holds the role of housewife (Speckhard, Akhmedova 2006: 74; Mite 2003). The participation of women in active fight against Russia is nothing new. Some of sources mention women beside men during the first Chechen War in 1990’ but it is not more mapped and literature is focused more on women as suicide bombers (Isayev 2004). In Chechnya more than 40% suicide bombers are women. They are using explosives fixed around their waist and they activate them on public places or transports as planes, cars or trains (Ness 2007: 100) The possibility of female suicide terrorism on the area of The Russian Federation pointed already out of the KGB in the past and now as we can see this strategy of terrorism within Chechnya is not only big topic to discuss but it is also something what is happening (Šmíd 2005). 4.1 Black Widows This naming appeared during the first biggest massacre in Moscow’s Theater Dubrovka in 2002. The general public was shocked during finding that some of the terrorists are women in long black chadors and the media assigned them this name which is known

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worldwide. Those women have feeling they have nothing more to lose because of their lost in family – sons, husbands, fathers, etc. This is the most important thing in life of every Chechnya’s woman and they want revenge (Ness 2007: 122, 124). It is also state reason that women are volunteers in case of ruining of their honor in the society what is happening for example after the rape what is unfortunately order of the day during the Russia-Chechnya’s conflict. In case of rape the honor is no exist for the whole family of the girl and she decides to sacrifice herself afterwards to delete the disgrace of her and its surroundings. Sometimes the rape is carried out by recruits themself to manipulate her for volunteered accession to the commando and so it is on the whole difficult to say if they are force directly or indirectly. The Russia’s government thinks they are drugged, fanaticized or blackmailed because they don’t want to agree that because of Russia the situation in Chechnya is enough to desperate that women are able to sacrifice them during the bomb attack voluntarily. According to Islamists are Black Widows presented as religious martyrs who chosen voluntarily to die for their country and religion as the Palestinian female suicide bombers (Groskop 2004). The unique profile of “Black Widow” does not exist. Some of them are widows, some of them have never been married, some of them had an education and they built their career. The results they were very good trained, both psychological and physical site. This preparation probably took place in some training camp when the black widows are until the suicide attack. (Šmíd 2005) 4.2 Black Widows and few of their targets in Russia The target of Black Widows is quiet broad. For one thing it is government’s target for another civilian’s target or attack on one person which is not that often. The first female suicide attack according to Russia was accomplished by Chechnya’s woman on Russian special police unit in 2000. In this time the society was not talking about the Black Widow because the first name was used two years later after the bomb attack in Moscow’s theater but in general she was the part of this naming. Another attack with car full of explosives was on the Federal Security Service headquarters which is successor of KGB in Ingusk. Attacks against the particular person are quiet sporadic. In most cases it is about revenge of widow who lost husband or someone from family and she decides to avenge this person by killing someone who is responsible for this death. This is case of attack in 2001 when a Black Widow decided to avenge the death of her husband, brothers and nephew who were killed during operations under the direction of the officer. Another case carried out near

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a military facility in North Ossetia Mozodok where the girls with explosives on the body had blown up the bus with Russian pilots and where is the starting point for Russian troops for operations in North Caucasus. This area is also known as a place where there is a blood vengeance. But probably the most interesting attack happened in 2003 when a woman named Zarema Muzhakhoyeva was trying to detonate explosive in the bag on public place but this try was unsuccessful and the woman was arrested. Until this time she was the only one Black Widow who was apprehended and she could be subjected to interrogation (Reuter 2004: 1118) 4.3 Black Fatima As mentioned above, the attack by Zarema Muzhakhoyeva became probably the most interesting case at least until this time because of her statement. During her confession she mentioned a woman who was the reason of her action and who is apparently the head of female suicide bombers. Her name is “Black Fatima” and the girl provided information to make a photofit of her. ‘The images show a middle-aged woman wearing dark glasses. Police say that she is aged about 40, about 160 centimetres tall, with dyed blonde hair.’ Unfortunately, its existence is not entirely sure (Parfitt 2003). 4.4 Interviews with the closest people of Black Widows Anne Nivat a French writer decided to find out more deeply about female suicide bombers or potential ones including family and friends of women who died during the Dubrovka’s siege which is mentioned lower. Unfortunately, after the Beslan’s massacre she had no opportunity to go to Chechnya which means that this part of issue is missing. First interview was focused on case which happened in 2001, when AizaGazueva committed suicide bomb attack against Russia General GaidarGadzhieva. Anne Nivat talked with mother of this girl who said: ‘A few months earlier, Aiza’s husband had been dragged away by Russian troops in front of her eyes. She had neither father nor brother anymore – no reason to live. She was a loyal woman, to the end.’ Another case of ZaretaBairakova who died during the massacre in Moscow’s Dubrovka Theater brought interview with her mother who recounted last moments with her daughter: ‘That Sunday at midday she was in her room praying when a woman I didn’t know knocked on our door and asked to see Zareta. “Your daughter knows me well,” she claimed. They left the house together. Zareta wanted to accompany her friend to the road. She never

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returned.’ The reason why she did this is apparently the fact that she suffered from tuberculosis which she caught during the first war between Russia and Chechnya. All these cases indicate that young girls decide to become suicide bombers voluntarily because of their pain from loss of someone from family and they want revenge or they have no other reason to live or as in Zareta’s case they do not want to live anymore because of torture which war inflicted them. What is also important to mention is that some of them decide to be a part of terrorist attack because of religion. Russia and The West did not accept the fact what Islam means. That is the right moment for male terrorist organizers to manipulate with young girls to commit suicide. This was case of Aminat when her friend said: ‘… Aminat wanted quiet simply to live as a good Muslim woman and they wouldn’t let her. And me – I am an extreme case because I do not have any other recourse. If the situation does not change, if they don’t let us live as we want, I would gladly join her in paradise,’ and she continued later: ‘Our only desire is to be able to live in peace, to wear a scarf if we want, to study whatever we want, including the Koran, and to perpetuate our families. But here, it is impossible. And if today they accuse us of terrorism and Wahhabism2, there is only one culprit – Akhmad Kadyrov3!’ (Ness 2007: 124-127) All these statements show the desperation of Chechen women and their reason to die.

5. Two worst massacres
5.1 Dubrovka’s Massacre The Massacre in Moscow’s Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 was probably the first Black Widows boom in general. Attacks were carried out in “normal” way as everyone knew until that time. Movsar Barayev had been responsible for this attack and he proudly reported that this is his work. During the performance in the theater a group of 42 terrorists including 19 women from Chechnya invaded onto the stage and overran the entire theater afterwards. Around 850 viewers were captured for almost 57 hours. Their call sounded that Russia troops leave Chechnya, to end the second Chechnya War and released Chechnya’s prisoners of war. Russia had on settlement of this matter one week. Only pregnant woman, children and few Muslims
2

Wahabbism is Sunni’s form of Islamic and it is state ideology of Saud Arabic. People who support this ideology think that they are the only ones who are uncorrupt members of real Islamism. (Wikipedia.org) 3 Chechnya’s President since 2003

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were released during the occupation and few of people escaped during the initial siege. (Dražanová 2007) As mentioned before the public was shocked that terrorists are not only men abut also women. Media was informing the public continuously and that was the first moment of using the name “Black Widows”. ‘We are not worried about how this hostage-taking will end. We trust President Vladimir Putin.” it was the most heard sentence from the public or ‘We should have finished off those gangsters in Chechnya a long time ago,’ was another. But during the time of occupation it turned to anti-Putin consensus because the government did not take the whole situation serious (Ness 2007: 123). Attackers chose by their own they want to talk with. They negotiate with representatives of The Red Cross or with a journalist Anna Politkovska who wrote reports about acting of Russia troops in Chechnya. She was murdered four years after the massacre in Dubrovka Theater. But the whole situation did not get better. People who survived said that the female Chechnya’s terrorists cried and were full of fear before death. Those women were educated but they lost their husbands who were killed by Russia troops and they had no other reason for living. Here we can see the clear example of main activity of Black Widows who are psychologically manipulate. The Russia government was trying to solve the whole situation and decided to carry out very risky plan which failed immediately afterwards. They used nerve gas which supposed to put everyone to sleep. First unit will rescue captives and give them the antidote and the second one will arrest the bombers. As it turned out, Russians used until then unknown gas and doctors were not capable to use the antidote. People started to die in theater, on stairs, in ambulances. The gas killed around 129 people, terrorists included. The whole tragedy slowly quieted also because of the government which did not want to admit that it also Russian’s fault that 129 were killed and 644 injured. Bereaved people filed an action for damages. Associations of family sued the government and also President Vladimir Putin for manipulation with this case. Members of Nord-Ost committee also mentioned that the final number of victims is 174 finally. (Dražanová 2007) 5.2 Beslan’s Massacre After the first incident which happened in winter 2002 in Moscow’s theater no one expected that something worse can come. But after two years later, occurred more frightening

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incident which has shaken with citizens of Beslan in North Ossetia and new tragedy with far worse consequences has appeared. On 1st September 2004, when children in age to eighteen went to school with their parents to celebrate the first day school, armed terrorists including women invaded inside and the building became a prison for 1300 hostages. This number was stated after the whole massacre by teachers. But the Russia government said there were around 354 hostages and another sources said also different number. About 50 people managed to escape during the first occupation but the rest stayed inside in hands of terrorist attackers among were also Black Widows. In short time, after the first invaded around 20 men were killed and attackers threw them out of the window for warning that they are meaning this incident serious because they were outraged by the authorities that they play down the number of hostages. Into the whole incident was led a pediatrician Leonid Roshal4 who had helped negotiate the release of children during the massacre in Moscow’s theater two years before and during the council of OSN which was convened the first evening of occupation in school, American President G. Bush offered a help to Russia in any form to solve this issue as soon as possible. But the situation wasn’t getting better and attackers refused any help for hostages including food, drink or medical help but the third day attackers at least allowed to take bodies out of the space. The incident ended on 3rd September after gunfight between terrorist attackers and Russian armed force and the whole incident took lives to 344 civilians including 186 children and more than hundred were injured during bomb explosion or during the gunfight. President Vladimir Putin after this whole issue ordered a national mourning for two days, 6th and 7th September (Frost). What exactly happened in the school during the occupation is not clear. There are few sources which said that two of attackers, women did not agree with the whole action. They alleged that they had no idea about killing innocent children and their leader detonated explosives which were in the room and that was probably the reason for intervention of Russian armed forces into the building (Ness 2007: 124).

4

Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal (* April 27, 1933), he is a pediatrician from Russia, Moscow. He is and expert for World Health Organization and chairman of International Charity Fund to Help Children in Disasters and Wars. (Wikipedia.org)

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6. Conclusion
Female suicide terrorism is indisputably big phenomenon which takes attention especially in last years and the incidence of female attacks still increase. In Case of Chechnya it is about the fight for human rights and women are getting to be a part of organizations to catch the attention. In official reports we can find the reason for their self-sacrificing as fight for religious radicalism but the most likely explanation is that their motivation to kill themselves is more about suffer and revenge and they need to do something to change the current situation. Very important factor is also their trust to people who manipulate with them to make them sure that suicide attack is right and necessary to safe their soul. It is important to say that in most cases those women are not drugged or otherwise forced into these acts. Today’s situation between Russia and Chechnya is getting a bit better. There are many surmises about what is the main reason why Russia stopped to pay big attention on Chechnya. The first reason could be RamzanKadyrov who supports Moscow’s government or the second reason could be the fact that Islamists start to be a big part of Russia. Maybe it’s better to say that the relationship between Russia and Chechnya stopped somewhere in the middle and it is question of time when issues appeared again (External writer 2011).

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8. Reference list

1. Atran, S. (2003): Genesis and Future of Suicide Terrorism, Interdisciplines, on-line http://www.interdisciplines.org/medias/confs/archives/archive_9.pdf 2. BIS – Bezpečnostní informační služba, on-line http://www.bis.cz/terorismus.html 3. Cronin, K. A. (2003): Terrorists and Suicide Attacks, Federation of American Scientists, on-line http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32058.pdf 4. Dražanová, A. (2007): Dubrovka: muzikál, který se utopil v krvavé lázni, Zprávy iDnes, on-line http://zpravy.idnes.cz/dubrovka-muzikal-ktery-se-utopil-v-krvavelazni-ftw-/zahranicni.aspx?c=A071022_172116_zahranicni_ad (October 23, 2007) 5. External writer (2011): Zabrání Rusko přeměně Čečenska v radikální muslimskou zemi?, Časopis Eliášova plamene, on-line http://blog.vlastenci.cz/author/asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm123456/, (March 29, 2011) 6. Foltín, P., Řehák, D. (2007): Mezinrodní spolupráce v boji proti terorismu: Obrana a strategie, on-line http://www.defenceandstrategy.eu/cs/aktualni-cislo-12007/clanky/mezinarodni-spoluprace-v-boji-proti-terorismu.html 7. Frost, M.: Beslan School Hostage Crisis, on-line http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/beslan_siege.html 8. Ganor, B. (2000): Countering Suicide Terrorism: The Rationality of the Islamic Radical Suicide attack phenomenon, Institute for Counter-Terrorism, on-line http://www.ict.org.il/Portals/0/51563-Countering%20Suicide%20Terrorism.pdf 9. Groskop, V. (2004): Chechnya’s deadly “black widows”, New Statesman, on-line http://www.newstatesman.com/node/148776, (September 6, 2004) 10. Isayev, R. (2004): The Chechen woman and her role in the “new” society, Prague Watchdog, on-line http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000015000006-000008&lang=1&bold=women, (June 21, 2004) 11. Liborakina, M. (1996): Women and the war in Chechnya, Woman Plus, Content of 2 Ussue, on-line http://www.owl.ru/eng/womplus/1996/gender.htm 12. Mite, V. (2003): Chechnya: What Is Driving Women To Suicide Missions?, Global Security, on-line http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2003/07/sec030709-rfel-161000.htm, (July 9, 2003)

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13. Ness, C. D. (2007): Female Terrorism and Militancy: Agency, Utility and Organization, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, New York: Routledge, 2007, State Library Aarhus 14. Parfitt, T. (2003): Suicide bombers’ chief revealed, The Sun-Herald, on-line http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/20/1058639664708.html, (July 21, 2003) 15. Reuter, J. (2004): Chechnya’s Suicide Bombers: Desperate, Devout, or Deceived?, The JAMESTOWN Foundation, on-line http://www.jamestown.org/uploads/media/Chechen_Report_FULL_01.pdf 16. Speckhard, A., Akhmedova, K. (2006): Black Widows: The Chechen Female Suicide Terrorists, on-line http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/91164/ichaptersection_singledocumen t/e4d7c6af-4921-4a41-82ab5a379e34396b/en/07_Black+Widows_The+Chechen+Female+Suicide+Terrorists.pdf 17. Šmíd, T. (2005): Pár poznámek k tragédii v Beslanu, Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, Revue Politika, č. 1, on-line http://www.cdk.cz/rp/clanky/236/par-poznamek-k-tragedii-v-beslanu/ 18. Štětina, J. (2006): Současná situace v Čečensku a podmínky pro zahraniční pomoc, Report from the conference, on-line http://www.jaromirstetina.cz/senat/konference/soucasna-situace-v-cecensku-apodminky-pro-zahranicni-pomoc.html, (March 7, 2006) 19. Zedalis, D. D. (2004): Female Suicide Bombers, Strategic studies institute, United States Army – War College, on-line http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub408.pdf