Week-ending 25 June 2021
This week the European Court of Human Rights handed down three judgments with regard to Russia, finding violations of Convention Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture), 5 (liberty and security of person), 6 (fair trial), 8 (private and family life), 13 (effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination).
22 June 2021
ADZHIGITOVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
Art 14 (+ Arts 2, 3, 8 and Art 1 P1) • Discrimination • Unlawful detention and ill-treatment of Avars by military servicemen of Chechen origin and failure to investigate possible motive of ethnic hatred • No evidence of racial prejudice behind searches and abductions during a military operation against an illegal armed group • No evidence of racial prejudice behind the killing and arson committed by the insurgents
Art 2 (substantive and procedural) • Life • Effective investigation • Enforced disappearance of Chechen village residents • State not responsible for killing by members of illegal armed group dressed as military personnel • Lack of effective investigation into disappearance or death
Art 3 (substantive and procedural) • Inhuman and degrading treatment • Unlawful use of force by military personnel and lack of effective investigation • Mental suffering caused by disappearance of applicants’ relatives
Art 13 (+3) • Lack of effective remedy for mental suffering caused by relatives’ disappearances
Art 8 • Respect for home and private life • Unlawful searches conducted by military personnel
Art 1 P1 • Peaceful enjoyment of possessions • Positive obligations • State not responsible for destruction of properties by illegal armed group dressed as military personnel • Less exacting standard for investigation met and State payment of compensation
Art 38 • Non-compliance with State obligation to furnish all necessary facilities
The respondent State failed to comply with their obligations under Article 38 of the Convention; there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention in respect of Mr Kamil Magomedov, Mr Abakar Aliyev, Mr Said Magomedov, Mr Akhmed Magomedov, Mr Akhmed Madomedov, Mr Eduard Lachkov, Mr Shakhban Magomedov, Mr Murtuz Umarov, Mr Magomed Isayev, Mr Akhmed Kurbanaliyev and Mr Magomed Kurbanaliyev on account of their enforced disappearance, and the lack of an effective investigation into that disappearance or into Mr Magomazov’s death; there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the ill-treatment of applicants nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 13-17, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 43-46, 53, 55, 61-64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 88-93, 105, 106, 109, 111, 112, 119, 120, 122, 123 and 125; on account of the lack of an effective investigation into their ill-treatment; and on account of the mental suffering of applicants nos. 1, 4, 5, 12, 18, 20, 23, 26, 40, 56, 77 and 102 caused by the disappearance of their relatives; there has been a violation of Article 13, in conjunction with Article 3 of the Convention, in respect of applicants nos. 1, 4, 5, 12, 18, 20, 23, 26, 40, 56, 77 and 102, on account of the lack of an effective domestic remedy for their grievances under Article 3 concerning the mental suffering caused to them by their relatives’ disappearance; there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention on account of the unlawful searches conducted in respect of applicants nos. 5, 7, 13, 14, 21, 22, 28, 27, 33, 52, 54, 55, 61, 66, 70, 74, 78, 80, 83, 88-90, 93, 96, 99, 111, 117 and 125; there has been a violation of Article 14, in conjunction with Article 3 of the Convention, in respect of applicants nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 13‑17, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 43-46, 53, 55, 61-64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 88-93, 105, 106, 109, 111, 112, 119, 120, 122, 123 and 125, and in conjunction with Article 5 of the Convention in respect of applicants nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 13-17, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 43-46, 52, 53, 55, 61-64, 66, 68, 70, 88-93, 105, 106, 109, 111, 112, 119, 120, 122, 123 and 125; there is no need to examine separately the merits of the complaints under Article 2 concerning the breach of the State’s positive obligation to safeguard the lives of the missing village residents; the complaints under Article 8 of the Convention concerning effectiveness of the investigation into the searches of the applicants’ homes; and the complaints under Article 13, taken in conjunction with Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the Convention, on account of the fact that the applicants did not have at their disposal effective remedies through which to complain of the abduction of their relatives, Mr Magomazov’s killing, their ill‑treatment, and the unlawful searches; the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final, in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts: (i) in respect of non-pecuniary damage, the amounts indicated in the Appendix,to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable; (ii) in respect of costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings before it, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants: EUR 13,275 (thirteen thousand two hundred and seventy-five euros) for applicants nos. 1-18, 20-24 and 26-28, jointly, to be converted into GBP at the rate applicable on the date of settlement and to be paid into the bank account of the applicants’ representative indicated by them; and EUR 500 (five hundred euros) for applicants nos. 33, 40, 43‑46, 52-56, 61-64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 74, 77, 78, 80, 83, 88-93, 96, 99, 102, 105, 106, 109, 111, 112, 117, 119, 120, 122, 123 and 125, each, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the third applicant, Mr Sysoyev, within three months, EUR 5,000 (five thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
24 June 2021
The complaints disclose a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention; there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints [concerning Articles 3, 5 and 6] raised under well-established case-law of the Court (see the appended table); the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
Additional source:
RFE/RL, 22 June 2021: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Russia to pay almost two million euros ($2.4 million) to the relatives of 11 people who went missing in Chechnya in 2005 during a special operation by the Vostok (East) military unit. The ECHR ruled on June 22 that Russia violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to life, when, according to witnesses, the military unit in question killed an elderly man in the town of Borozdinovskaya in Chechnya in October 2005 and abducted 11 local residents, mainly ethnic Avars, whose whereabouts have been unknown since then.
