Russia found responsible for killing elderly Chechen civilians

Today, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia responsible for killing Zaynap Tangiyeva's elderly father, mother and uncle on the night of 10-11 January 2000 in violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. They were aged 73, 67 and 75 respectively. Mrs Tangiyeva was found to have established a prima facie case that her relatives had been killed by Russian servicemen and the Court found that Russia had "failed to provide any other satisfactory and convincing explanation of the events." The Court awarded Mrs Tangiyeva 60,000 euros in moral damages.

In January 2000 Zaynap and her family were living in Grozny, Chechnya. The city was under intense shelling by Russian Federal forces and her local area was under the control of Russian servicemen. On 11 January 2000, Zaynap found her father's body, with gunshot wounds, in the kitchen of their home, which was on fire. Fearing that the killers would return she fled Grozny, returning the following day to bury him. On 6 March 2000, officials from the Russian Ministry of Emergencies extracted the charred remains of her mother and uncle from the cellar of the house. Bullets were found near the bodies.

The Russian Government was criticised for failing to submit to the Court the criminal investigation file into the killings, despite being twice asked to do so by the Court. The Court considered the case file to be "crucial for the establishment of the facts in the present case."

The Court also found that the Russian authorities failed to investigate the killings effectively, in violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) noting that:
"...even the most basic procedural steps in the investigation were taken after April 2004 [...] more than four years after the events in question [...] It is obvious that these measures, if they were to produce any meaningful results, should have been taken immediately after the crime was reported to the authorities, and certainly as soon as the investigation had commenced."

It further found that:
"These delays, unexplained in this case, not only demonstrate the authorities' failure to act of their own motion but also constitute a breach of the obligation to exercise exemplary diligence and promptness in dealing with such a serious crime."

Mrs Tangiyeva was represented before the Court by the London-based European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) and the Russian non-governmental organisation, Memorial.

EHRAC's Director, Professor Philip Leach, one of the applicant's representatives, said:
"The case is just one example of the serious failings in State investigations into gross human rights abuses in Chechnya. It also highlights the worrying tendency for Russia to withhold key information from the European Court. The Council of Europe has suggested that a Truth Commission may be an appropriate way to deal with the legacy of the Chechen conflict. If this is to work it would require the full cooperation of the authorities."

Note: On 13 November 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe released a draft resolution and report on the use of experience of "Truth Commissions" in which the Assembly stated that the experience of Truth Commissions may be of particular relevance for Chechnya. See: http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/APFeaturesManager/defaultArtSiteView.asp?ID=718

For more information please contact:

In London:
Philip Leach
Director, EHRAC
Mobile: +44(0)7932 019 471
p.leach@londonmet.ac.uk

Professor Bill Bowring
Chair, EHRAC International Steering Committee
Tel: +44 (0)20 7631 6022
Fax: +44 (0)20 7631 6506
Mobile: +44 (0)7810 483 439
b.bowring@bbk.ac.uk

Kirsty Stuart
Development & PR Officer, EHRAC
Tel: +44 (0)20 7133 5156
Fax: +44 (0)20 7133 5173
k.stuart@londonmet.ac.uk

In Moscow:
Tatiana Kasatkina
Executive Director, Memorial Human Rights Centre
Tel: +7 495 225 3118
Fax: +7 495 650 5779
kasatkina@ehrac.memo.ru

In Paris:
Kirill Koroteev
Lawyer, EHRAC-Memorial Project, Case Consultant
Tel: +33 665 60 27 53
koroteev@ehrac.memo.ru