{"id":629,"date":"2016-07-18T15:42:54","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T14:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rcstaging.co.uk\/ehrac\/?post_type=blog&p=629"},"modified":"2021-03-05T15:44:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T15:44:53","slug":"in-conversation-with-lord-frank-judd","status":"publish","type":[32],"link":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/blog\/in-conversation-with-lord-frank-judd\/","title":{"rendered":"In conversation with Lord Frank Judd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflections of the former Special Rapporteur on Chechnya for the Council of Europe (1999-2003)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Sophie Rust<\/em><\/p>\n

A supporter of EHRAC since its inception in\u00a02003, Lord Judd has always taken a keen\u00a0interest in the organisation\u2019s litigation work on\u00a0human rights cases, particularly those from\u00a0Chechnya. Despite the increasingly hostile\u00a0attitude of the Russian State towards safeguarding\u00a0human rights, he still actively lobbies\u00a0in the House of Lords<\/a> for continued diplomatic\u00a0efforts to persuade Russia to implement judgments\u00a0from the European Court of Human\u00a0Rights<\/a>. With new legislation\u00a0passed in December 2015 allowing Russia\u2019s\u00a0Constitutional Court to override European\u00a0Court judgments if deemed unenforceable<\/a>,\u00a0the prospect of progress seems unlikely in the\u00a0foreseeable future. Lord Judd has stated<\/a> that\u00a0Europe\u2019s feeble response to Russia\u2019s human\u00a0rights record amounts to<\/p>\n

\u201cwanton irresponsibility\u00a0as its actions continued to incite terrorism\u00a0and extremism in the region.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Judd was a member of the Parliamentary\u00a0Delegation to the Council of Europe<\/a> (CoE)\u00a0between 1970 and 1973 and again between\u00a01997 and 2005. He was then appointed to the\u00a0Political Affairs Committee in 1999 and elected\u00a0Special Rapporteur on Chechnya, reporting to\u00a0the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE<\/a> (PACE);\u00a0in this position he investigated, monitored and\u00a0made recommendations on solutions\u00a0to human rights issues in\u00a0the region. During his tenure, Lord\u00a0Judd visited Chechnya nine times\u00a0and Moscow eleven times. He\u00a0therefore has extensive first-hand\u00a0experience of the human cost of\u00a0the tensions between the local\u00a0population and State authorities.<\/p>\n

On 23 March 2016 we were\u00a0delighted to meet Lord Judd in\u00a0the House of Lords to hear his\u00a0reflections on his experiences\u00a0as Special Rapporteur, and\u00a0also on the ongoing serious and\u00a0unresolved problems within\u00a0Chechnya. He talks of the turbulence\u00a0in the region at the time,\u00a0when the second war between\u00a0Russia and Chechnya was\u00a0ongoing, and how it impacted\u00a0on those working there. Some\u00a0Council of Europe colleagues were anxious\u00a0about travelling to Chechnya, especially\u00a0when it was impossible to guarantee their\u00a0safety. Lord Judd describes one night staying\u00a0unexpectedly in a military base in Grozny \u2013\u00a0the kind of scrutiny they received made it\u00a0very clear they were not welcome. Although Lord Judd admits that there were risks in\u00a0travelling to the region, he says:<\/p>\n

\u201cI can honestly\u00a0tell you\u2026 that I never felt physically\u00a0afraid. There was plenty to be afraid of. I\u00a0was certainly apprehensive, but not afraid.\u00a0I was realistic.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Judd explains that he has always sought\u00a0to speak objectively about the situation in\u00a0Chechnya; for example he recalls that at a press\u00a0conference in Chechnya in 2010 when,\u00a0after being unable to access Russia or Chechnya for several years, he returned with the All Party Parliamentary Group mission, he was asked to\u00a0comment on the new infrastructure which had\u00a0been put in place, such as roads, apartments\u00a0and mosques. Lord Judd replied that he was\u00a0very impressed with the new infrastructure\u00a0aesthetically, but that he was unsure how well\u00a0it was built, and who had access to it. However,\u00a0predominantly, he expressed his sadness that\u00a0despite these superficial developments, there\u00a0was no progress on human rights issues. But\u00a0his concerns about human rights were edited\u00a0from all media coverage of his visit.<\/p>\n

The tipping point for Lord Judd came with\u00a0the referendum that was set to take place\u00a0in Chechnya on 23 March 2003 on the new\u00a0constitution. He had recommended that the\u00a0referendum be postponed as, in his opinion,\u00a0Chechen voters were insufficiently informed\u00a0about the referendum and the security\u00a0situation made proper preparations for it\u00a0impossible. Moscow rejected his plea, and he\u00a0publicly stated that he would resign if the referendum\u00a0took place on 23 March 2003. When\u00a0PACE also rejected his proposal to postpone\u00a0the referendum, Lord Judd resigned<\/a>. Reflecting on this decision, Lord Judd says\u00a0that he often wonders if he did the right thing.\u00a0However, he came to realise that there were\u00a0many people who appreciated his actions. Lord\u00a0Judd was always very aware of the inherent\u00a0compromise of working with the Russian Government.\u00a0On the one hand this was the only\u00a0legitimate way of making progress in Chechnya.\u00a0However, he comments,<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery now and then\u00a0there comes a time for a fundamental stand.\u201d\u00a0It seems that his resignation from the position\u00a0of Special Rapporteur was just that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even before his resignation, Lord\u00a0Judd\u2019s analysis of the situation\u00a0in Chechnya proved divisive\u00a0among British politicians: the\u00a0issue of Chechnya was clouded\u00a0by Russia\u2019s alleged \u2018problems\u00a0with security\u2019. At a time when\u00a0the Russian Government was\u00a0justifying its actions in Chechnya\u00a0by citing the terrorist threat\u00a0posed by Chechen separatist\u00a0groups, Lord Judd attempted to\u00a0highlight the unwitting potential\u00a0of British foreign policy to\u00a0drive people into the hands of\u00a0extremist groups.<\/p>\n

Turning to human rights in\u00a0Chechnya, Lord Judd says:<\/p>\n

\u201cI shall\u00a0definitely go to my grave thinking\u00a0about the people in Chechnya \u2013their faces, their courage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord\u00a0Judd describes the anger of the\u00a0Chechens he met at the injustice of the situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe indiscriminate nature of bombings;\u00a0the brutality, torture, and crude intimidation of\u00a0family and friends; enforced disappearances.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The courage displayed by the people living there\u00a0strongly moves him to this day.<\/p>\n

In 2010, when Lord Judd returned to\u00a0Chechnya for a UK All-Party Parliamentary\u00a0Human Rights Group Fact-Finding Mission\u00a0with Nicole Pich\u00e9 (PHRG Co-ordinator), he\u00a0found that in some ways the human rights\u00a0situation had deteriorated.<\/p>\n

The implementation of judgments on cases of\u00a0human rights abuse in Chechnya is an issue\u00a0which has long frustrated Lord Judd. The\u00a0European Court of Human Rights has delivered\u00a0over 300 judgments on cases from Chechnya and the North Caucasus,<\/a>\u00a0but Russia has taken\u00a0little action to implement these judgments<\/a>,\u00a0beyond the payment of compensation to the\u00a0victims. In June 2012, Lord Judd asked the\u00a0UK Government<\/a> what proposals they would put\u00a0forward to the CoE\u2019s Committee of Ministers\u00a0to press for follow-up action by the Russian\u00a0Government in the case of Shafiyeva v Russia<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(one of EHRAC\u2019s cases). He raised the issue\u00a0of Russia\u2019s non-implementation of judgments\u00a0in Chechen cases in the House of Lords as\u00a0recently as July 2015<\/a>. During Lord Judd\u2019s tenure, the political\u00a0situation in Russia changed dramatically. He\u00a0describes a \u201cspring\u201d in the Russian media at\u00a0the beginning of his time as Special Rapporteur\u00a0in 1999, when he spoke about Chechnya\u00a0at press conferences. Four years later and the\u00a0media had clamped down in Russia; press\u00a0conferences had become risky and it was only\u00a0brave journalists who would speak with Lord\u00a0Judd privately.<\/p>\n

One of these journalists was Anna Politkovskaya,\u00a0human rights activist and critic of Putin\u2019s\u00a0regime and the Second Chechen War, who was\u00a0murdered in 2006. Lord Judd describes his\u00a0infinite admiration for Anna, whom he first\u00a0met at an international press conference in\u00a0Chechnya, and her persistence, despite the\u00a0growing danger she faced.\u00a0Regarding the current political situation in\u00a0Russia, or the \u2018KGB elite\u2019 as he calls the ruling\u00a0political class, Lord Judd points out<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the\u00a0people in key positions went to special universities\u00a0and choose special schools for their kids\u00a0\u2013 a carefully nurtured, cynical elite. And what\u00a0is it [based on]? \u2013 power and money. In the old\u00a0days\u2026many people in Russia had to somehow\u00a0themselves rationalise what they were doing\u2026But now it\u2019s just about power and money.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As our conversation comes to a close, Lord Judd\u00a0also draws out parallels with the status of human\u00a0rights in the UK, of which he is deeply critical.\u00a0Talking of the Government\u2019s proposal to repeal\u00a0the Human Rights Act and replace it with a\u00a0British Bill of Rights, Lord Judd asks: \u201cWhat is\u00a0the motivation for bringing in the Bill of Human\u00a0Rights? Is it to protect human rights? No!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The work of EHRAC constantly impresses\u00a0and inspires me. The Russian government has\u00a0set out to isolate from international scrutiny\u00a0the cynical, systematic, brutal and continuing\u00a0abuse of justice and human rights in Chechnya\u00a0and the North Caucasus. Too much of the\u00a0media, academia and political leadership\u00a0in the West has inexplicably condoned this.\u00a0Russia\u2019s record has inevitably provoked more\u00a0extremism, terrorism and instability across\u00a0the region and beyond. In EHRAC we have\u00a0a team of first-rate lawyers and their small,\u00a0dedicated support staff working tirelessly and\u00a0effectively in the cause of truth and justice.\u00a0Their success in helping to ensure\u00a0that specific cases of grotesque\u00a0injustice are brought before the\u00a0European Court of Human Rights\u00a0and the consequent record of\u00a0condemnation by the Court are a\u00a0challenge and example to us all.\u00a0No ivory towers or academic or\u00a0journalistic voyeurism for them!\u00a0The accumulating body of case\u00a0law speaks for itself. Muscular\u00a0and highly-motivated engagement\u00a0is their driving force.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Frank Judd<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Judd\u2019s account of his time as\u00a0Special Rapporteur is certainly a\u00a0fascinating one, and his significant\u00a0influence in tenaciously pursuing\u00a0human rights issues in Chechnya\u00a0both in the UK Parliament and\u00a0through his role as Special Rapporteur\u00a0at the Council of Europe\u00a0cannot be underestimated. We\u00a0greatly value his continued support for EHRAC\u00a0and his ongoing lobbying of the UK Government\u00a0and the Council of Europe on human\u00a0rights issues through the House of Lords.<\/p>\n

This article appeared in the 25th issue of the EHRAC Legal Bulletin.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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