The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Russia more than 360 Thousand Euros over kidnapping of 5 Chechen civilians between 2001 and 2006.

Here are the press releases:

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Press Release
ECHR 317 (2013)
31.10.2013

The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing the following judgements.

Tovbulatova and Others v. Russia (nos. 26960/06, 27926/06, 6371/09 and 6382/09)

The applicants are Chechen Republic of Ichkeria nationals who are the families of five men who disappeared in the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria after being apprehended, in 2001 and 2006, by armed men belonging – according to the applicants – to the Russian military or security forces.

Magomed Edilov, born in 1979, Akhamdi Isayev, born in 1981, and Ali Vadilov, born in 1974, were detained in the early hours of the morning of 9 December 2001 at their respective family homes in the village of Valerik (Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya) by a group of armed masked men in camouflage uniforms. Their families have had no news of the three men since (application nos. 26960/06, 6371/09 and 6382/09).

Bulat Chilayev, born in 1973, who was a driver for a Russian humanitarian NGO, and Aslan Israilov, born in 1978, who had been visiting his grandfather in Sernovodsk, were on their way to Grozny on 9 April 2006 when their car was stopped during a large-scale sweeping operation by a group of men wearing camouflage uniforms. Eyewitnesses stated that both men were punched and beaten with rifle butts and then bundled into the boot and back seat of their car, with one of the men in camouflage taking the wheel and driving off in the direction of Grozny. There has been no news of the two men since (application no. 27926/06).

The applicants alleged that their relatives had disappeared after being unlawfully detained by Russian servicemen and that this had caused them mental suffering. They also alleged that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the disappearance of their relatives.

They relied on Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

Violation of Article 2 (right to life) – in respect of the applicants’ relatives (Magomed Edilov, Akhamdi Isayev, Ali Vadilov, Bulat Chilayev and Aslan Israilov)
Violation of Article 2 (procedure) – in respect of the failure to investigate effectively the disappearance of the applicants’ relatives
Violation of Article 3 – in respect of the applicants, on account of their relatives’ disappearance and the authorities’ response to their suffering
Violation of Article 5 – in respect of the applicants’ relatives, on account of their unlawful detention
Violation of Article 13 in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3

Just satisfaction: EUR 10,000 (pecuniary damage) to Bulat Chilayev’s daughter; per family of each of the five men who disappeared, EUR 60,000 (non-pecuniary damage); and, per application, sums between EUR 1,168 and EUR 2,500 (costs and expenses).