Executive summary

Human Rights Prize of the French Republic

In 2004, the Chechnya Justice Project enjoyed its most public recognition to date, when the Chechnya Justice Initiative was awarded the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic 2004 (Prix des Droits de l’homme de la République Française 2004) in December.  The Chechnya Justice Initiative was one of five award recipients selected from a pool of 116 organizations nominated from 43 countries, and the only organization selected from Russia. The project’s partner, Secours Catholique (CARITAS-France), supported CJI’s nomination.  The independent National Human Rights Commission selected the organization for its work on behalf of victims of torture and towards torture prevention through the Chechnya Justice Project.  In addition to an engraved Human Rights Prize medal, the project received a small grant to provide additional assistance to victims and training to human rights advocates.

Leadership in Human Rights Litigation

The Chechnya Justice Project remains the only project dedicated to representing victims from the conflict in Chechnya before Russian legal institutions and the European Court of Human Rights.  The project also makes important contributions to the field of human rights litigation in Russia through professional research, publications, advocacy, and training. 

In 2004, the project again exceeded all expectations for its litigation before the European Court and further distinguished itself as the leading litigation project assisting victims from Chechnya.  At the end of the year, the project had come to represent more than 700 victims and their family members in 95 cases. In 72 cases, the project has presented applications to the European Court of Human Rights. A total of 20 full and 21 preliminary applications were submitted in 2004 alone.

Advanced Litigation

A number of the project’s cases made demonstrable progress before the European Court in 2004. The European Court has now communicated 14 of the project’s cases to the Russian government, eight of them in 2004. Communication is the second stage of litigation following the initial application on the part of the applicant. At this stage, the Court invites the Russian government and the Chechnya Justice Project to present additional arguments on the admissibility and legal merits in the case. Following the Court’s communication and responses, the Court will take a decision on admissibility.  If the Court determines the case admissible, then a final judgment will follow.

The Chechnya Justice Project cases communicated thus far by the Court primarily concerned events in 2000 and 2001, including the large sweep operations in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny and Sernovodsk, as well as torture during detention in the Chernokozovo prison. Three of the cases involve more recent events, but the European Court elected to give these cases priority due to harassment of the applicants and their family members. In seven cases, the Russian government has submitted a memorandum, and the project has already responded on behalf of the applicants with counter arguments and additional information relevant to the admissibility and merits of the case.  In the remaining cases, the project is currently preparing responses to the government memoranda.

Prioritization of Cases from Chechnya

In August, the European Court informed the Chechnya Justice Project that it had taken a Rule 41 decision on all cases from Chechnya, thereby prioritizing them in the Court’s review process.  This decision was taken at least in part as a direct result of the Chechnya Justice Project’s advocacy, undertaken together with the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre and Memorial, to encourage the Court to take concrete measures to help ensure the security of applicants. With this decision, the project anticipates a somewhat expedited review process for its cases. 

Sharing Litigation Expertise

Building on many years experience, the Chechnya Justice Project’s staff members have now distinguished themselves as experts in the field of ECHR litigation in Russia.  Three staff lawyers contributed to a book providing commentary to the European Convention of Human Rights and analyzing Russian law relevant to the convention.  The lawyers examined Article 2 (right to life) using their extensive experience with cases involving extrajudicial execution and non-investigation of crimes committed by federal forces.  In addition, one lawyer delivers lectures on the ECHR for advanced law students at a prominent Moscow university.  Members of the staff were also asked to contribute to ECHR and Russian law trainings in Russia.

Advancing Knowledge of the ECHR

The Chechnya Justice Project made additional important contributions in 2004 to the advancement of the legal expertise of Russian lawyers, human rights advocates, and others through training, research, and publications. In October, with the support of the German Embassy, the project sponsored a group of lawyers that included project staff lawyers and lawyers from Chechnya to attend a weeklong seminar hosted by the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. In December, the project hosted a seminar for lawyers representing applicants from Chechnya and other parts of Russia before Russian judicial bodies and the ECHR.

Building on established professional relationships with law faculties and law schools at prestigious universities, including Amsterdam University, Harvard University, and Yale University, the project produced two academic publications that analyzed important aspects of European and European Court law and practice relevant to both Russian as well as other lawyers and human rights activists working in Europe.  Graduate interns produced two other publications in 2004 that examined specific practices in Chechnya that contribute substantially to the problem of impunity.

Citizen’s Guide

In early 2004, the Chechnya Justice Project produced the Citizen’s Guide for Residents of the Republic of Chechnya: Defending your Rights on the Territory of the Russian Federation.  This highly practical instructional guide is the first of its kind and serves to educate victims of the conflict in Chechnya living in the Northern Caucasus about their rights under Russian and international law. The guide also provides information about the domestic and international rights protection mechanisms available to victims and their relatives, and provides detailed instructions for defending these rights. This much-needed publication has begun to fill a significant void by encouraging victims to know their rights and exercise them effectively.

Impact

The impact of the Chechnya Justice Project will be felt most clearly with decisions on the project’s cases at the European Court of Human Rights, which are still forthcoming.  Nevertheless, as cases proceed through advanced stages of litigation before the ECHR, the project has already begun to see an impact on the practices of domestic law enforcement agencies.  Notably, the project has found that once cases reach the communication stage, the activity of the local procuracies responsible for criminal investigations increases, at times dramatically.  Procuracies undertake basic investigative steps such as deposition of witnesses and relatives, inspection of the crime scene, and forensic examinations.  These actions appear to be largely a result of inquiries and requests for information sent from the main civilian and military procuracies in Moscow in response to inquiries from the Russian Representative before the ECHR, who is responsible for preparing submissions to the European Court on behalf of Russia.

Although the investigative steps taken at this point are usually several years after the date of the crime and, according to the Court’s case law, cannot be considered “effective” investigative actions,^[1] the impact of ECHR litigation on the domestic system, even before the decision stage, is noteworthy.  It is possible that at least some of these investigations will lead to a conclusion in certain cases, and possible that procuracies will begin to take active steps before waiting for inquiries from the European Court.

^[1] — According to the Court’s case law, in order for an investigation to be considered effective, it must be, inter alia, timely. The Court has found that the timeliness requirement is not met if an investigation has been pending for more than one, one and a half, or two years. Furthermore, the Court’s case law clearly states that an investigation opened or activated after communication of the case by the Court to the government cannot be considered timely or effective, for the impetus for the investigation is merely the Court’s inquiry and not the state’s sincere desire to fulfill its obligation to investigate crimes.

Achievements of 2004 >>