Russia: Prosecute Rights Violations in North
Caucasus
(Moscow, June 4, 2009) –
The number of European Court of Human Rights judgments holding Russia
responsible for serious violations of human rights in Chechnya has surpassed
100, but the government has failed to take appropriate steps to remedy them,
Human Rights Watch, the Memorial Human Rights Center, and Russian Justice
Initiative said today.
The judgments condemn
Russia for its refusal to investigate violations properly and failure to hold
perpetrators accountable, including for such grave violations as extrajudicial
executions, enforced disappearances and torture. At a round of human rights
consultations between the European Union and the Russian Federation on May 26,
2009, both sides agreed that “judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
shall be implemented fully and in a timely manner.”
“Over and over again, the
court has told Russia that it needs to investigate and prosecute the acts of
violence in Chechnya,” said Allison Gill, Moscow office director at Human
Rights Watch. “It is fine that Russia is saying it will act, but now it needs
to keep its promise. That is the only way to end the killings and other
violence.”
Since its first Chechnya
judgments in February 2005, the European Court has held Russia responsible for
the deaths of more than 200 people, mainly through killings and
disappearances carried out by Russian forces in Chechnya. The court handed down
its 100th judgment on Chechnya on May 14, 2009, and the most recent three
judgments on May 28, 2009 (http://www.srji.org/en/news/2009/05/71/ ).
As a party to the European
Convention on Human Rights, Russia is obligated to carry out the court’s
judgments, including paying damages awarded by the court, and adopting what are
called individual measures of redress, which involve conducting proper criminal
investigations ending with the trial and conviction of the perpetrators.
Two-thirds of the Chechnya
judgments concern enforced disappearances, and the remaining ones, for the most
part, extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate bombings, torture, and destruction
of property. To date, Russia has not held a single individual accountable for
the violations found in these rulings.
At least 300 more cases
concerning human rights violations in Chechnya and other republics in the North
Caucasus are pending before the European Court.
“Russia has been found to
violate the right to life in more cases than each of the other 46 Council of
Europe member states combined since the court started functioning in 1959,”
said Roemer Lemaitre, legal and program director of Russian Justice Initiative.
“The right to life will have little meaning in Chechnya until perpetrators are
punished.”
In 102 of the 104 Chechnya
judgments, the European Court held that Russia failed to conduct an effective
investigation into the violations, even though in most of the cases there was
overwhelming evidence that state agents were responsible. Investigations are
routinely suspended allegedly because of the “impossibility of identifying the
perpetrators.”
The European Court’s
criticism of Russia has been particularly sharp in cases where the identity of
the perpetrators is known but there has been no effective investigation leading
to prosecution, and when case material clearly demonstrates the Russian
authorities’ reluctance to investigate high-ranking officers. For example, in
its Bazorkina v. Russia judgment, the court acknowledged that Colonel-General
Alexander Baranov gave the order to execute a prisoner, Khadzhi-Murat Yandiyev.
The scene, in February 2000, was filmed by a CNN correspondent. Subsequently,
Yandiyev disappeared. The Russian government has thus far not taken any steps
to investigate Baranov for his role in this crime.
Also, in a February 2005
ruling, the European Court found Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov
responsible for a military operation in the village of Katyr-Yurt in February
2000 that involved the “massive use of indiscriminate weapons,” and that led to
the loss of civilian lives (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/05/27/russia-investigate-general-who-got-promotion ). Russian authorities opened an
investigation into the operation, but found no evidence of crime.
In only one Chechnya case
did the court not find a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. In
this case a Russian court sentenced a soldier who had killed a young Chechen to
10 years in prison. Although the soldier’s trial started only after the
relatives of the victim applied to the European Court, the European Court
subsequently held that the relatives of the victims had received redress at the
domestic level.
As a party to the European
Convention on Human Rights, Russia is also obligated to adopt general measures,
including reforming law and practice, to prevent future violations. The
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which supervises the
implementation of general measures, has identified four major areas of focus in
the Chechnya cases: improving the legal and regulatory framework governing the
work of the security forces; raising awareness and providing training for
members of the security forces; improving domestic remedies in cases of abuse;
and improving Russia’s general cooperation with the court.
“The Russian government has
done the easy part by paying compensation to the victims,” said Oleg Orlov,
chairperson of the Memorial Human Rights Center. “But it has not implemented
the core of the judgments in a meaningful way.”
At its meeting on June 2 to
5 in Strasbourg, France, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
will review Russia’s compliance with the court’s judgments, including the
Chechnya rulings.
Russia has been cited by
European leaders for failing to ratify Protocol 14 to the European Convention
on Human Rights. Protocol 14 would streamline cases for the overburdened court
and enhance the Committee of Ministers’ role in supervising the implementation
of judgments. Russia is the only Council of Europe member state that has not
ratified the measure.
“One of the reasons the
court is so overburdened is the large number of cases filed against Russia,”
said Orlov. “And yet it is Russia that is impeding efforts to reform the court.
This needs to change.”
Human Rights Watch, the
Memorial Human Rights Center, and the Russian Justice Initiative called on the
Russian government to:
• Ratify
Protocol 14;
• Re-open
investigations in those cases where the European Court has determined
that prior investigations were inadequate and conduct them in a manner that ensures
they are meaningful and effective, resulting in those responsible for
violations being brought to justice;
•
Undertake a thorough review and revision of domestic legislation and
regulations regarding the use of force by military or security forces to ensure
their compliance with human rights law;
• Carry out an in-depth inquiry into the conduct of
investigations of abuses committed by military servicemen, police, and
intelligence officials and other forces in Chechnya to establish why these
investigations are so ineffective.
For more details on European Court of Human Rights judgments on Chechnya,
please visit the following:
• Human Rights Watch memorandum, “Update on European Court
of Human Rights Judgments against Russia regarding Cases from Chechnya,” at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/03/20/update-european-court-human-rights-judgments-against-russia-regarding-cases-chechnya
• Human Rights Watch brochure, “Justice for Chechnya: The
European Court of Human Rights Rules against Russia,” at:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/justice_for_chechnya_2.pdf.
• Memorial Human Rights Center report on the situation in
the North Caucasus conflict zone, prepared for the round of European Union –
Russia human rights consultations, at:
http://www.memo.ru/2009/05/29/2905094.htm
For more information, please contact:
In Moscow, for Human Rights Watch, Tanya Lokshina (English, Russian,
French): +7-916-624-1906 (mobile)
In Moscow, for Human Rights Watch, Allison Gill (English, Russian):
+7-916-238-5127 (mobile)
In Moscow, for Memorial Human Rights Center, Oleg Orlov (Russian):
+7-985-762-2465
In Moscow, for the Russian Justice Initiative, Roemer Lemaitre (Russian):
+7-928- 7260975 (until June 7); or +7-906-7723632
June 4, 2009