News

22 September 2016

RJI releases English translation of study on female genital mutilation in Dagestan

The report is the first to examine the practice of FGM in contemporary Russia, and is based on field interviews with 25 women and 17 experts. The study found that FGM is performed on girls in certain mountainous districts of Dagestan, usually before the age of 3. However, the practice has largely remained hidden and public opinion on the local level, including that of religious leaders, concerning the legitimacy and necessity of the practice is far from unanimous. In the mountain districts, there is close to full support for the practice. 

7 September 2016

Ingushetia Supreme Court orders hospital to pay 1 million roubles to a mother who lost her child

“The court ordered the hospital to pay Makka Doskhoyeva 150,000 roubles as compensation for loss of the baby and loss of her reproductive function. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia overturned the city court’s decision and ordered compensation of 1 million roubles”, said Rustam Matsev, lawyer with Russian Justice Initiative. Russian Justice Initiative is handling a number of cases concerning failure to provide medical assistance. The success criteria for such cases are set out in the section Our Partners and Joint Projects. 

24 August 2016

RJI reports to Committee of Ministers on identification of remains

On 24 August 2016 RJI made a submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoM) concerning the execution of the judgment in the case of Israilova and others v Russia. The applicant’s son, Sharpuddin Israilov, disappeared in December 2002 from Khankala military base in Grozny.

19 July 2016

The ECHR ruled a compensation payment of 1,500 euros to convicted person Murat Shavayev

The ECHR ordered 1,500 euros to be paid to the applicant as compensation for moral damages. The money must be paid within three months of the ruling coming into force.   Shavayev was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2007, the Moscow City Court found him guilty of involvement in the terrorist attacks on Avtozavodskaya metro station on February 6, 2004, and Rizhskaya metro station on August 31, 2004. In handing down the sentence, the Court cited confessions that Shavayev gave under torture. Lawyers at Russian Justice Initiative believe that the Court’s sentence and the evidence obtained by these means violate the applicant’s rights under Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention. Shavayev’s lawyers also noted violation of procedural obligations under Article 3 of the Convention, and therefore sent to the ECHR in 2008 an application on Shavayev’s behalf in connection with the violations cited above. The application is currently at the stage of being communicated to the Russian Government. 

1 July 2016

Russian Justice Initiative sent an application from South Ossetia to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

On July 1, 2016, Russian Justice Initiative sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, an application on behalf of the relatives of three South Ossetian victims of the 2008 Georgia-South Ossetia armed conflict. In the application, Russian Justice Initiative asked for the investigation framework to be expanded to, at a minimum, October 13, 2008. This would bring under the ICC investigation the disappearance of three young men in the conflict ‘buffer zone’ on October 13, 2008.