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Rediscovering corruption’s other side: bribing for peace in post-conflict Kosovo and Chechnya

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Abstract

Conventional approaches towards the impact of corruption on post-conflict stabilization suggest that corrupt practices impede a successful war to peace transition. When transparency and accountability are absent, the risk of corruption threatens to turn the state apparatus into a tool of enrichment for those in power and affect the “exit” from violence/insurgency towards demobilization and reintegration. However, corruption may have redeeming values by serving the function of a power-sharing arrangement between antagonistic parties, thereby, reinforcing peace. Radical anti-corruption programs in post-conflicts situations may bring adverse results such as a renewal of violence. Aimed to fill the void in research on corruption in post-conflict situations, the article inquires about the links between corruption, peacebuilding and violent non-state actors. By combining various disciplinary approaches, the article theorizes the outcomes of corruption in post-conflict situations and discusses them in the context of Kosovo and Chechnya.

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Notes

  1. German intelligence report (Bundesnachrichtsdienst 2005:11) cited in Jonsson (2013): “[Haliti] is connected to money laundering, drug- weapons- human and fuel smuggling, trade in women and the prostitution business and belongs to the inner circle of the Mafia.” By 2011, Haliti was a senior parliamentarian for the PDK. The report is prepared by German intelligence service BND and a confidential report contracted by the German military.

  2. See the cases of Princ Dobroshi, Agim Gashi and others. The Detroit News (2012, August 7) reported that Tomo Duhanaj, an illegal immigrant, was charged with running a loan-sharking business in the US that charged exorbitant rates to the local Albanian community. Duhanaj was one of the KLA fundraisers during the war.

  3. Series of interviews were conducted with law enforcement officials and advisors from EU Police Missions Proxima and Pameca (2007–2009) by co-author Jana Arsovska.

  4. In 2002, Haridinaj’s brother Daut was convicted with four other men for kidnapping, torturing and killing four former members of FARK, the armed wing of the LDK. Since then three key witnesses and two policemen investigating the case had been murdered (Xharra 2005).

  5. See Bundesnachrichtsdienst (2005: 22) cited in Jonsson 2012; “In the Decani region the clan-based structure of the Haradinajs engages in the entire spectrum of criminal, political and military activities that influences all of Kosovo.”

  6. Nazim Bllaca has confessed to being a former hitman for the SHIK. Bllacais being indicted for murder, attempted murder and involvement in organized crime and has witnessed in a trial against two other KLA soldiers (McAllster 2011).

  7. Co-author Jana Arsovska conducted interviews with ex-prisoners from Kosovo that were allegedly involved in the funding of the KLA during the conflict. The interviews were conducted in Kosovo between 2007 and 2008. The respondents have been charged for human trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking and other crimes.

  8. Marsho (also marşo) refers to a Chechen word for freedom, independence, and autonomy. This idea is currently reflected in the anthem of the Chechen Republic “Joƶallaya Marşo” (Chechen for “Freedom or Death”)approved in 1991.

  9. Following the progress of the “Slavic” OCGs in Moscow in wiping the Chechen OCG out of the capital in the beginning of the 1990s and the launch of the First Russo-Chechen war, many Chechen gangs returned to Chechnya and joined the rising Chechen pro-independence movement.

  10. Siloviki is the term used to refer to power ministries and members of Russian security agencies (Russian).

  11. Literally “Kadyrov’s followers” (Russian).

  12. Boeviki is used by Russian security agencies to refer to Chechen underground fighters (Russian).

  13. “Stop feeding the Caucasus” (Russian). One of the examples was an anti-Caucasian protest action in Moscow on October 22, 2011. Extensively advertised in both the government and the press, further protests were supposed to take place across Russia. Given unimpressive results of the first demonstration, other protests were not considered successful.

  14. SKFO refers to the North Caucasian Federal District created by the President’s decree on 19 January 2010. It includes the following republics: Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, North Ossetia-Alania, Stavropolskiy krai, and the Chechen Republic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Yuliya Zabyelina

  2. Faculty of Sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York, USA

    Jana Arsovska

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  1. Yuliya Zabyelina
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  2. Jana Arsovska
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Correspondence to Yuliya Zabyelina.

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Zabyelina, Y., Arsovska, J. Rediscovering corruption’s other side: bribing for peace in post-conflict Kosovo and Chechnya. Crime Law Soc Change 60, 1–24 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-013-9446-x

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