The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian Federation committed serious abuses, including the torture and killing of civilians, during its military offensives against separatists in the Chechen Republic. (24-FEB-05)
 

The Strasbourg-based Court was ruling on Thursday on claims by six Chechens who blamed Moscow for the deaths of relatives during attacks and bombings by the Russian military in 1999 and 2000.

The Court ordered Moscow to pay a total of 135,710 euros in damages to the six claimants.

The panel of judges, among them one Russian, were unanimous in condemning the Russian Federation for breaching the European Convention of Human Rights article on the right to life. The court also said Moscow breached the plaintiffs’ right to a full hearing.

It said in two cases, Moscow had also violated the ban on torture and inhumane or degrading treatment and, in the case of one person, breached a clause on the protection of property.

Two of the six Chechens alleged they were tortured and family members were killed by the Russian military in Grozny, the Chechen regional capital.

The others complained of the shelling of civilians in late 1999 and early 2000, during a flare-up in the conflict between Russian forces and separatist rebels which has raged on and off since 1994.

the Russian Federation can request the case be referred to the Court’s grand chamber for a final judgment within the next three months.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed and some 20,000 soldiers have died since the Russian Federation first sent in troops to crush separatist rebels in 1994.

The six cases were the first of about 120 concerning the Chechen conflict submitted to the court.
To learn more about ECHR decision go to official web-site.

Source: www.mosnews.com