News

18 September 2014

ECtHR once again finds Russia responsible for forced disappearances

All the cases concern facts of unlawful detention of applicants’ relatives (seventy males were detained directly from their houses); the detentions were conducted at different times across the Chechen Republic in the period of 2001-2006. Since their detention, the applicants have not been aware of their relatives’ roundabouts and fate. The European Court established that in every case the detention was conducted by Russian law enforcement officers. As a matter of fact, virtually all the detentions took place during the special operations by the military and police, as the crime scenes were controlled exclusively by Russian law enforcement structures, and the abductors were in possession of special purpose military vehicles and weapons; they crossed checkpoints freely, as well as felt themselves at ease and did not show signs of fear to be seen or arrested. 

3 October 2013

European Court finds Russia responsible for extra-judicial killing in Ingushetia

The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the killing of a resident of the village of Galashki, Ingushetia, in 2004, as well as the ill-treatment of the victim’s relative, Russian Justice Initiative reported today. The applicants in Arapkhanovy v. Russia (no. 2215/05) are the close relatives of Beslan Arapkhanov, who was killed during a search of his house by a group of servicemen of the Russian Federal Security Service.

1 August 2013

European Court finds Russia responsible for the disappearance of eight civilians in Chechnya

In a strongly-worded judgment, the Court found Russia responsible for the disappearance of two women and six men from Chechnya between 2000 and 2002, Russian Justice Initiative reported today. All eight disappeared in or around Grozny; the bodies of two women were found bearing signs of violent death several months after their disappearance, while the rest remaining missing.

30 June 2013

Magamed Abubakarov receives Lawyers for Lawyers Award

In June 2013 Chechen lawyer Magomed Abubakarov was awarded the Netherlands-based Lawyers for Lawyers Award. The prize is awarded to a lawyer or group of lawyers who have worked to promote the rule of law and human rights in an exceptional way and have been threatened because of this work. 

18 April 2013

RJI and International Protection Centre report to the Committee of Ministers that domestic legal mechanisms are not effective in implementing the “Chechen judgments"

On 18 April 2013 the non-governmental organizations Russian Justice Initiative (RJI) and International Protection Centre (CIP) sent an official submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoM) regarding the functioning of domestic judicial review procedures as a tool for implementing judgments from the European Court of Human Rights on Chechnya.