22:08, 2 October 2007

Residents of Northern Caucasus will be able to apply to the Strasbourg Court directly

In its resolution adopted by majority vote the PACE calls to be more flexible in considering applications originated from the North Caucasian region of Russia, i.e. to provide an opportunity for the applicants from North Caucasus to address the Strasbourg Court directly, without waiting for exhaustion of all local and national instances and remedies.

The resolution was adopted on the report on Cyprian parliamentarian Christos Purgurides. However, the text of the resolution does not specify the way the applicants from these regions can use this alternative, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Mr Purgurides' report states that the authorities are putting pressure on the residents of Northern Caucasus who would like to apply to the Strasbourg Court in connection for defence of their human rights. In the opinion of the author, in Russia "advocates and NGO members who defend the victims of violations of human rights are under pressure."

The "Echo Moskvy" Radio reminds that as of today Russia is in the lead by the number of applications filed to the European Court for Human Rights.