Frank Judd recalled Chechnya and told war enveloped entire North Caucasus

Frank Judd, member of the inter-party parliamentary group for defense of human rights of the British Parliament, a former PACE's Rapporteur for Chechnya, who recently paid a visit to the Russian-occupied province of the Caucasus Emirate Nokhchicho (AKA Chechnya / Ichkeria) as the head of the British parliamentary delegation on February 15-18, 2010, gave a few days ago a lengthy interview to the democratic website The Caucasian Knot.

In his interview, Judd said:

"I think Russian authorities were quite efficient in isolating Chechnya. It's very hard for foreign journalists to get there, and the terms of their stay there are quite limited. As a result we have a deficit of information in Russia and, surely, among the world community on what happens in the Caucasus.

What our help could be? Prior to offer help, we should know the picture, and only then offer. It's important. The worst thing is that the problem is not only in isolation, there are plenty of evidences that journalists, who know and cover the situation, are intimidated. To say nothing about Russian journalists: Anna Politkovskaya (assassinated on October 7, 2006) and Natalia Estemirova (kidnapped and assassinated on July 15, 2009) are brightest examples.

It all gives rise to strained atmosphere, restricts the volume of information that reaches the broad public, while the data from there should arrive in full measure. It does not reduce the responsibility of the external world, which should permanently strive for truthful information about what happens in Chechnya. Too often I hear voices that journalists are too hard to get to Chechnya; therefore, they don't want to cover the situation there. I find it unacceptable.

The situation in Chechnya is surely complicated; however, what happens there affects not only local residents but the world community as a whole. And media are just obliged to cover the events there.

While covering a certain event, one should not forget the context. The way journalists write their materials lacks out and away any context of the incessant confrontation and incessant, let me word it like that, warfare. Not a word about it: the event is covered without context, and readers can't understand the situation.

I am sure that the authoritarian system as such is giving rise to inflow of recruits to the army of world extremism, as people, mainly youngsters, lose hope and despair.

But we see violence not only in Chechnya: it is already outside it, not only in Ingushetia and not only in Northern Caucasus. Isn't it obvious that recruits from Chechnya are already taking part in global extremist operations?

From this viewpoint, the whole world in interested in solving the Chechen problem. We should address it in the interests of our own safety, since if we close our eyes on that, we'll train the army to be a threat to our society".

Judd also said that he is against Moscow's attempts to open so-called "representation offices of Chechnya" in European countries. He said he recommended the British government not to allow the opening of such offices. 

"I believe we should be especially careful in this issue. The present Chechen authoritarian regime tries to open its representative offices. What sort of offices will they be? Will they promote operations of shadowing or extradition to homeland? There're all sorts of threats...

If Chechnya is a part of Russia, it should present its interests through Russia's federal structures. If Chechnya strives for certain autonomy, then, we can talk about cooperation, but only with the honestly elected representative authority. Are the incumbent government and Chechen parliament honestly elected, free and democratic assemblies? Therefore who, devil take it, will these Chechen offices represent?"

Judd also said that he recommended to review a refugee-return policies for Chechen refugees with the aim to ensure their protection, endangered in their homeland. This also applies to other regions of the Northern Caucasus.

"I find return of refugees absolutely unreasonable until there's no complete confidence that once at home they'd escape any inadmissible treatment. Until there's a slightest risk of oppressions, physical violence or - moreover - a murder, any repatriation, in my opinion, is absolutely inadmissible".