The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Russia more than 300 Thousand Euros over kidnapping of 5 Chechen civilians between 2001 and 2004.

Here are the press releases:

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Press Release
ECHR 310 (2013)
24.10.2013

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

Dovletukayev and Others v. Russia (nos. 7821/07, 10937/10, 14046/10 and 32782/10)

The applicants are seven Russian nationals who live in various districts of Chechnya (Russia). They are close relatives of five men – Aslan Dovletukayev, Khizir Gulmutov, Islam and Abubakar Tazurkayevy and Supyan Khutsayev, born between 1936 and 1982 – who disappeared, between 2001 and 2004, after having been taken away by armed men in uniforms whom the applicants took to be Russian servicemen. The bodies of four of the applicants’ relatives were subsequently discovered. One of the men remains missing and his family has had no news of him since his disappearance in September 2003. The investigations into the circumstances of the disappearance and the death of the applicants’ relatives remain pending. Relying on Article 2 (right to life), the applicants complained that their relatives had been abducted and killed by Russian State officials, and that the authorities had failed to carry out effective investigations into their deaths. Further relying on Article 5 (right to liberty and security), they complained of their relatives’ unacknowledged detention. They also complained, under Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), that no remedy had been available to them in respect of these complaints. Finally, the family of Abubakar Tazurkayev relied on Article 3 (prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatment), complaining that the disappearance of Abubakar caused them mental suffering.

Violation of Article 2 (right to life) – in respect of the applicants’ relatives
Violation of Article 2 (investigation) – in respect of the failure to investigate effectively the abductions and deaths of the applicants’ relatives Aslan Dovletukayev, Khizir Gulmutov, Islam Tazurkayev and Supyan Khutsayev and the disappearance of Abubakar Tazurkayev
Violation of Article 3 – in respect of the relatives of Abubakar Tazurkayev, on account of their mental suffering
Violation of Article 5 – in respect of the applicants’ relatives on account of their unlawful detention
Violation of Article 13 in conjunction with Article 2 – in respect of the relatives of Aslan Dovletukayev, Khizir Gulmutov, and Supyan Khutsayev)
Violation of Article 13 in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 – in respect of the relatives of Islam and Abubakar Tazurkayevy

Just satisfaction: EUR 20,000 to the mother of Islam and Abubakar Tazurkayevy in respect of pecuniary damage, between EUR 40,000 and EUR 120,000, per application, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; and between EUR 3,000 and EUR 4,000, per application, in respect of costs and expenses.