The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled the Russian Federation should pay 72,000 Euros ($112,000) in compensation to a resident of the Chechen Republic, whose two relatives went missing in May 2001. Currently, a total of 23,000 temporary cases are pending against the Russian Federation, around 26% of the total. (21-APR-08)
Written by Inna Komar/HRH Moscow
Sources: http://www.rian.ru
The court ordered the Russian Federation pay the plaintiff in the case, Khadizhat Kaplanova, 2,000 euros in respect of pecuniary damage and 70,000 euros in respect of moral damages, a press release published on ECHR website said.
In line with the case file and eyewitness statements submitted by the plaintiff, on May 12, 2001 a group of Russian military personnel entered Kaplanova´s house and took away her son Isa Kaplanov, son-in-law Ruslan Sadulayev and visiting neighbor Movsar Musitov. Musitov, who was released the next day, stated that the other two men were taken away in a military vehicle and he never saw them again. The two men are still registered as missing.
The court said in the press release that “despite repeated requests, the Russian Government had failed to submit a copy of the investigation file opened into the disappearance of the applicant´s son and son-in-law.” the Russian Federation, which is one of the most frequent defendants at the court, was also ordered to pay 8,600 euros in legal costs.
the Chechen Republic suffered two devastating separatist wars in the 1990s-early 2000s. Thousands were killed and many more made homeless as federal troops attempted to regain control of the mountainous republic. Earlier in the month the Council of Europe harshly criticized the Russian Federation over alleged human rights violations by security forces in the Chechen Republic and other parts of Russia´s North Caucasus, including torture and executions.
A committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) released an ´introductory memorandum´ on April 16 calling the situation in the region “by far the most alarming” in all 47 Council of Europe member states, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
In all, the ECHR has received a total of 46,700 cases against the Russian Federation over the past ten years, comprising 20% of all lawsuits submitted. The court has made 397 rulings on the Russian Federation in the past 10 years, or 5% of the total received during the period. Currently, a total of 23,000 temporary cases are pending against the Russian Federation, around 26% of the total.
