Cases before the European Court of Human Rights
For security reasons, only those cases that have reached the communication stage of ECHR litigation are included here.
The Disappearance of Idris Abdulazimov, Islam Utsaev, Masud Tovmerzaev, and Movsar Taisumov
Early in the morning of 2 June 2002, Russian troops on armored personnel carriers and other military vehicles drove to the village Novye Atagi for a targeted military operation. The soldiers burst into the Utsaev home, detained Islam Utsaev, and drove him away in an APC. The troops then proceeded to detain Movsar Taisumov, Idris Abdulazimov and Masud Tovmerzaev in their respective homes. On this same day, troops also detained Said-Magomed Imakaev (see below). None of the men have been seen or heard from since. Authorities within the procuracy have provided only perfunctory responses in reply to the families’ exhaustive inquiries as to the whereabouts of their relatives and the investigations into their disappearances. Beginning in July 2004, one of the families in the case suffered repeated raids on their home, during which federal forces beat one elderly applicant severely, threatened other family members with violence and death, and stole the vast majority of the family’s household possessions. The family was forced to leave their home and relocate to another village, but continue to fear for the safety of their relatives. The original full application in the case had been submitted in December 2003, to the Chechnya Justice Project on behalf of the families. The Court prioritized the case Utsaeva and others v Russia as a result of the security incidents and communicated the case in October 2004, and the project will respond to the government’s memorandum in early 2005.
The Disappearance and Summary Execution of Shamil Akhmadov
During a March 2001 sweep operation in Argun, Russian federal forces detained Shamil Akhmadov, along with at least ten other men. Although the dead bodies of four of the men were found days later outside the Khankala military base, Akhmadov’s relatives searched for him for over a year. In May 2002, they found his remains, bearing signs of extrajudicial execution, in a vacant lot on the outskirts of Argun. The Chechnya Justice Project filed a full application with the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Tamusa Akhmadova and Larisa Sadulaeva in August 2003. Following the harassment of one of the applicants and her family, the project submitted a letter in November 2003 to the European Court detailing the {these?} incidents. The European Court responded by prioritizing the case, Akhmadova and Sadulaeva v Russia and communicated the application to the Russian government on December 15. The project responded to the case in October 2004.
The Arbitrary Killing of Kazbek Akiev and Khamid Khatsiev
On 6 August 2000, without apparent reason, a Russian military helicopter opened fire, at a group of men who were mowing grass in the hills near the Ingush village of Arshty (just across the border with Chechnya). Two of the men were killed. The military prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation, but the investigation has not been meaningful. In December 2001, the Chechnya Justice Project filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Khazman Akieva and Laila Khatsieva, mothers of the deceased, as well as a number of other close relatives. The Court communicated the case Khatsiyeva and Akiyeva v Russia in October 2004, and the project is currently preparing a response to the government’s memoranda on the admissibility and merits of the case.
The Disappearance of Shakhid Baisaev
Russian federal troops detained Shakhid Baisaev during a sweep operation in Pobedinskoe (near Grozny) on 2 March 2000. Baisaev’s wife, Asmart Baisaeva, has been looking for her husband ever since. In August 2000, armed masked men sold her a videocassette containing footage of her husband’s detention. Russian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation, but failed to take basic and necessary steps to determine the perpetrators of the crime. The Chechnya Justice Project submitted the videotape to the prosecutor’s office with a request to identify the individuals on the videotape and question them, but never received a response. In April 2002, the project filed an application to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Baisaeva. The case Baisaeva v Russia was communicated to the Russian government in February 2004, and the project submitted its memoranda in response in July.
The Unlawful Detention and Torture of Arbi and Adam Chitaev
Russian federal troops detained Arbi and Adam Chitaev in April 2000. The brothers were held in the Chernokozovo detention facility until their release in September of that year, and both men suffered ill treatment and torture. Criminal charges against them were dropped shortly after their release. Memorial Human Rights Center filed a complaint on behalf of the brothers to the European Court of Human Rights in July 2000. In summer 2001, both sides requested that the Chechnya Justice Project represent the brothers in further proceedings. The project initiated appropriate action in the domestic legal system and filed an additional submission in the case Chitaev and Chitaev v Russia to the European Court in November 2002. The European Court communicated the case to the Russian government on 28 August 2003. The Chechnya Justice Project received the government’s observations and responded with its own memorandum in May 2004.
The Summary Execution of Five Members of the Estamirov Family
On 5 February 2000, Russian federal troops summarily executed five members of the Estamirov family in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny. Among the victims were a one-year-old boy and a woman who was eight months pregnant. The criminal investigation into the killings failed to secure physical evidence at the scene of the crime or conduct full forensic medical examinations of the bodies, and neglected to question witnesses.” London-based barrister Gareth Peirce of the firm Birnberg, Peirce and Partners filed an application with the European Court on behalf of the Estamirov family in August 2000. The Chechnya Justice Project team provided additional submissions to the European Court in 2001 and 2002. On 18 June 2003, the European Court communicated the case to the Russian government, and Estamiovy v. Russia was the first Chechnya Justice Project case to be communicated. In late October 2003, the project submitted a response to the government’s memorandum of 9 September. The case is currently awaiting admissibility.
The Summary Execution of Mariam and Magomet Goigov
In January 2000, Russian federal troops summarily executed fifty-nine-year-old Mariam and thirty-one-year-old Magomet Goigov in the Staropromyslovskii district of Grozny. A medical examination by an Ingush forensic expert shows that Magomet Goigov was severely tortured before his death. Russian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the summary executions, but the investigation has not been meaningful. In September 2001, the Chechnya Justice Project filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Petimat Goigova and her four children. The case Goigova v Russia was communicated in August 2004, and the project is preparing a response to the government’s memorandum.
The Disappearance of Said-Khusein and Said-Magomed Imakaev
On 17 December 2000, twenty-three year old Said-Khusein Imakaev was driving home from the market when a group of armed men stopped his car and detained him. Said-Khusein subsequently disappeared. Investigators failed to question key witnesses and soon suspended the investigation. In February 2002, Said-Khusein’s parents filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights. Four months later, on 2 June 2002, Russian federal forces detained Imakaev’s father, Said-Magomed Imakaev, at his home. Said-Magomed subsequently also “disappeared.” The official investigation failed to follow leads that could help identify the officers who detained Imakaev. That same month, the Chechnya Justice Project filed an application regarding the second disappearance to the European Court. In response to a request from the European Court about the father’s disappearance, the Russian government asserted that, most likely, rebel fighters disguised as federal forces had detained Said-Magomed Imakaev. The Chechnya Justice Project submitted a large body of evidence of Russian federal troops’ involvement in the disappearance to the European Court. The European Court communicated the case on 4 July 2003, and the project prepared a response to the government’s memorandum of 26 September on the admissibility and merits of the case. The project is currently awaiting the Court’s admissibility decision.
The Disappearance of Sultan Isaev
On 29 April 2001, Russian troops conducted a sweep operation in Alkhan-Kala. In the course of the operation, they detained eleven men, including Sultan Isaev, who subsequently disappeared. Isaev’s wife, Khamila Isaeva, has since sought to establish the whereabouts of her husband, but to no avail. At the request of the Chechnya Justice Project, Professor Bill Bowring of London Metropolitan University filed an application with the European Court on behalf of Isaev’s wife in December 2002. The Court communicated the case Isayeva v Russia to the government in October 2004, and the project received the government’s response two months later. The project will now prepare a response on behalf of the applicant.
The Disappearance of Apti Isigov and Zelimkhan Umkhanov
During a 2 July 2001 sweep operation in Sernovodsk, Russian troops detained hundreds of men, including Apti Isigov and Zelimkhan Umkhanov. Most men were released the same evening, but Isigov and Umkhanov “disappeared.” Their relatives have since unsuccessfully sought to establish their whereabouts. A criminal investigation was opened but later suspended on the grounds of failure to identify a suspect, despite the fact that the procuracy questioned several servicemen who participated in the sweep operation and even members of the APC crew that detained the two men. The Chechnya Justice Project filed a preliminary application with the European Court on behalf of the relatives of the two men in December 2001. The case Isigova and Umkhanova and others v Russia was communicated in November 2004, and the project awaits the government’s memorandum.
The Disappearance and Extrajudicial Execution of Nura Lulueva
On 3 June 2000, armed masked men on an armored personnel carrier detained Nura Lulueva, her cousins and several other people at the Northern market in Grozny, where they had been selling strawberries. In March 2001, Lulueva’s body and those of her cousins were discovered among those retrieved from a mass grave in Dachny village, outside Grozny. Russian prosecutors failed to conduct a meaningful investigation. No full forensic examination was conducted on the body, and physical evidence, including clothing and blindfolds, was not saved as material evidence. Nearly three years after the discovery of the body, the investigation has led to no results. The Chechnya Justice Project filed an application with the European Court on behalf of Lulueva’s family in March 2001, and the case Luluev v Russia was communicated on 17 November 2003. In July 2004, the project responded to the Russian government’s memorandum.
The Unlawful Detention and Torture of Suleiman Medov
Russian federal troops detained Suleiman Medov in January 2000. Medov was held in a variety of detention centers, including Chernokozovo, for the next three months. During this period, Medov was tortured and beaten frequently. Members of the Chechnya Justice Project team gathered evidence of Medov’s ill treatment and corresponded with the prosecutor’s office regarding his case. By June 2001, domestic remedies had been exhausted. At the project’s request, Maxim Ferschtman of the Dutch law firm Böhler, Franken, Koppe, Wijngaarden Advocaten filed an application to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Suleiman Medov in December 2001. The Court communicated the case Medov v Russia in September 2004, and the project is waiting for the government’s memorandum.
The Disappearance of Khadzhimurat Yandiev
On 2 February 2000, Russian federal troops detained a wounded Khadzhimurat Yandiev at a hospital in Alkhan-Kala. Video footage of the detention submitted to the prosecutor showed how a Russian officer questioned Yandiev, and then ordered his execution. Yandiev’s mother has been looking for her son ever since. Russian prosecutors have refused to open a criminal investigation into Yandiev’s disappearance and have not identified the officer clearly visible on the video footage. The Chechnya Justice Project team filed an application with the European Court on behalf of Fatima Bazorkina, Yandiev’s mother, in April 2001, and submitted a supplement to the application in September 2002. The case Bazorkina v Russia was communicated on 17 November, and Chechnya Justice Project responded to the government’s memorandum in July 2004.
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