Tatiana Lokshina: Chechen young people join militants from despair

In her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Tatiana Lokshina, head of the "Demos" Centre, told about the life of the modern Grozny; some quotations are given below:

"The appearance of Grozny is a heap of repaired houses; it includes beautiful pathways, alleys, boulevards and mini-parks. ...These are the positive moments, which cannot remain unnoticed in today's Grozny. On the other hand, there is an ocean of absurdity. For example, fountains are playing in the city, but there is no water in the taps and the sewerage is inoperative.

...Chechnya is still overwhelmed by the atmosphere of fear. People understand that they are now allowed to speak freely and as much as they would about the crimes committed by employees of federal forces in the Chechen Republic before 2004, but they cannot even open the mouth on the crimes related to the actions of local power agencies.

...If we look at statistical data, even at the statistics of the Human Rights Centre 'Memorial,' we see that the number of kidnappings during the first six months of this year was minimal. On the other hand, it's easy to understand from informal conversations with militiamen that every month some 20-30 kidnappings take place, which are not registered.

... Magomet Khambiev, former Maskhadov's Minister of Defence who is now a respectable member of the Chechen Parliament, said not so long ago that according to his sources the number of young men who joined militants from January to April 2007 was about 300. What happens in reality? If the data on a young man has got into the database of power agencies, their members start to 'pull him up.' ...Especially vulnerable are those young men who happen to have active or former militants among their relatives."