Gaziyeva and Others v. Russia (15439/05) concerns the disappearance of Abdul-Malik Shakhmurzayev. In the afternoon of 8 February 2001 Abdul-Malik's lorry was stopped by Russian military servicemen at a roadblock near the village of Chechen-Aul, Chechnya. According to eyewitnesses the servicemen started beating and kicking Abdul-Malik. He was then put in an APCs and taken away. Abdul-Malik has not been seen since.
Malsagova v. Russia (27244/03) concerns the disappearance of Saydi Malsagov after he was detained at his home in Urus-Martan, Chechnya, in the early hours of 7 November 2002 by a large group of masked military servicemen. There has been no news of Saydi since.
The applicants in Dokayev and Others v. Russia (16629/05) are relatives of Isa Dokayev, Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev. In the early hours of 10 December 2002 a group of masked Russian military servicemen burst into Isa Dokayev's home in Grozny. They detained Isa and his two guests and drove away with the three men in the direction of the Oktyabrskiy District Department of the Interior in Grozny. The men have not been seen since.
Dzhabrailova v. Russia (1586/05) concerns the disappearance of Khanpasha Dzhabrailov after he was detained at his home in the village of Goyty, Chechnya, in the early hours of 10 April 2003 by a large group of Russian military servicemen. There has been no news of Khanpasha since.
In today's judgments the ECtHR unanimously held that:
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The right to life has been violated in respect of the disappeared persons who must be presumed dead (violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights);
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The Russian authorities had failed to conduct effective investigations into the violations of the right to life (violation of Article 2);
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The applicants' relatives had been illegally detained (violation of Article 5);
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The manner in which the complaints of the applicants were dealt with by Russian authorities constituted inhuman treatment (violation of Article 3);
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The applicants did not have access to an effective remedy before Russian authorities for the violations (violation of Article 13).
The Court awarded the applicants in the four cases a total of 261 457 euro for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.
The applicants in Gaziyeva, Malsagova and Dokayev were assisted in bringing their applications to the Court by Russian Justice Initiative. The applicants in Dzhabrailova were represented by Dokka Itslayev, a lawyer in Chechnya.
For more information:
In Moscow, Russia: Roemer Lemaître, +7 906 772 36 32