Letter from the Governing Board

1 February 2005

Dear friends and supporters,

In late 2004 our initiative changed its name. We are now known as the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative, which, through its implementing partners, the Moscow office of the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative (registered in the Netherlands) and the Ingushetia-based organization Pravovaia Initsiativa, implements the Chechnya Justice Project. We hope that the new name serves to underline one of the main goals of our initiative: The integration of Russia into a common European legal sphere based on the European Convention on Human Rights.

Our work, on the other hand, has not changed, although the caseload continues to grow. Currently we represent more than 700 individuals in 95 cases, 72 of which have been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. Fourteen of the cases have progressed to advanced stages of litigation before the Court, and on 20 January 2005 the Court declared our first case admissible, meaning that it will now be heard on its merits. The case, known as Imakayeva v Russia, concerns a woman, Marzet Imakayeva, whose son became victim of an “enforced disappearance” in December 2000. Marzet Imakayeva filed an application to the Court in 2002 together with her husband, Said-Magomed, who subsequently also “disappeared” after being detained by federal troops.

From the start of the project, we have placed emphasis on protecting our clients and staff, and have put in place various security procedures to that end. We were, however, unable to protect our client Said-Magomed Imakayev. His disappearance was a blow against the very idea of accountability for crimes in Chechnya. The admissibility decision in this case is therefore especially significant: The Court simply cannot tolerate that its applicants become victims of grave human rights abuses; the European legal sphere also includes Chechnya.

Unfortunately, incidents of harassment and intimidation of applicants to the Court continue to be widely reported. Persecution of human rights defenders -- a category that includes victims of human rights abuses who seek justice through the courts -- has been a consistent feature of the “second” Chechen war, and continues unabated after more than five years of armed conflict. By persecuting human rights defenders, the perpetrators aim to silence dissenting voices and impose their version of events on the conflict. To a degree this tactic has met with success: The plight of Chechnya today seldom makes the headlines.

This does not mean that the situation in Chechnya has improved. In some respects the situation is now even worse than before. The armed conflict is spreading beyond the borders of Chechnya, and so do the grave abuses associated with it. Several of the new cases are from Ingushetia, where attacks on human rights defenders also take place with increasing frequency. In response to numerous documented incidents of harassment of applicants, in August 2004, the Court granted priority to all cases from Chechnya. The Court heard the first six cases from Chechnya, which were submitted by the Russian Human Rights Centre “Memorial,” and the London-based European Human Rights Advocacy Centre in October 2004, and the decisions are due in late February 2004.

Given the overall gloom surrounding Chechnya today, there is comfort in being involved in a project that brings the hope of justice closer to our clients, and the European legal system closer to Russia. Our work in this regard has increasingly met with international recognition. In December 2004, our initiative was awarded the prestigious Human Rights Prize of the French Republic (Prix des droits de l'homme de la République Française) for its work on behalf of victims of torture. The recognition is the fruit of the hard and conscientious work of the staff of the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative, which has been made possible by our financial supporters. The board especially would like to thank outgoing executive director, Jane M. Buchanan, for her dedication and efforts during her 20 month long tenure.

On behalf of the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative Governing Board
Aage Borchgrevink

Background and Context >>