The ECHR case of Chitayev and Chitayev v. Russia (application no. 59334\/00).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
..<\/span><\/p>\n \n \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n .<\/span><\/p>\n EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 44<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 18.1.2007<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Press release issued by the Registrar<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n CHAMBER JUDGMENT<\/span> The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing its Chamber judgment1<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/a> in the case of Chitayev and Chitayev v. Russia <\/span>(application no. 59334\/00). <\/span><\/p>\n The Court held unanimously that there had been:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation<\/span> of Article 3<\/span> (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the treatment of the applicants while in detention;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 3<\/span> as regards the absence of an effective investigation into the applicants\u2019 allegations of torture;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 5<\/span> (right to liberty and security) of the Convention on account of the applicants\u2019 unacknowledged detention;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 5 \u00a7 4<\/span> (right to have lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court);<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 5 \u00a7 1 (c) <\/span>(lawfulness of detention);<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 5 \u00a7 3 <\/span>(right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial);<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 5 \u00a7 5 <\/span>(enforceable right to compensation);<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>a violation of Article 13<\/span> (right to an effective remedy); and,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00b7 <\/span>no <\/span> failure <\/span> to comply with Article 38 \u00a7 1 (a)<\/span> (obligation to furnish necessary facilities for the examination of the case).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Under Article 41 (just satisfaction), the Court awarded the applicants 35,000 euros (EUR), each, for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 7,629.90, jointly, for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in English.)<\/span><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0Principal facts<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The applicants, Arbi Chitayev, and his brother, Adam Chitayev, are Russian nationals who were born in 1964 and 1967 respectively. It appears that Arbi Chitayev now lives in Germany and that Adam Chitayev lives in the Irkutsk Region (Russia).<\/span><\/p>\n The facts of the case, particularly those surrounding the period of the applicants\u2019 detention, are partially disputed by the parties.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the applicants, following the outbreak of hostilities in Chechnya in 1999 between the Russian armed forces and <\/a>Chechen rebel fighters, they moved their families and valuables to their parent\u2019s house in the town of Achkhoy-Martan. <\/span><\/p>\n Between January and April 2000 the house was searched by officers from the Temporary Office of the Interior of the Achkhoy-Martan District (\u201cthe Achknoy-Martan VOVD\u201d) a number of times without a warrant being produced. Numerous household electrical items and personal documents belonging to the applicants were seized. <\/span><\/p>\n Following one of the searches, on 12\u00a0April 2000, the brothers were told they had been arrested. They were then taken into detention at the Achkhoy-Martan VOVD, where they were held until 28 April 2000 in unheated, damp cells with no toilets.<\/span><\/p>\n While in custody, they were interrogated about the activities of the <\/a>Chechen rebel fighters and about kidnappings for ransom, but denied their involvement in any crimes. The applicants alleged that they were ill-treated. In particular, they alleged that: they were given electric shocks, forced to stand for a long time in a stretched position, with their feet and hands spread wide apart; that they had their arms twisted; that they were beaten with rubber truncheons and plastic bottles filled with water; that they were strangled with adhesive tape, with a cellophane bag and a gas mask; that dogs were set on them and that parts of their skin were torn away with pliers. Adam Chitayev claimed he was also beaten on his genitals and threatened with shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n On 28 April 2000 the applicants were transferred to the Chernokozovo Detention Centre ( \u201cthe Chernokozovo SIZO\u201d) where they were beaten on arrival. They were not medically examined on arrival, in contravention of the relevant legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n They alleged that, there, they were again interrogated and tortured to force them to make false confessions: they were beaten, threatened, strangled and subjected to electric shocks and their fingers and toes were squashed with mallets or a door of a safe and their hands and feet tied behind their backs (\u201cswallow\u201d <\/span>position).<\/span><\/p>\n Their lawyer was only once given access to them and was only allowed to ask them how they were in Russian and in the presence of a police officer.<\/span><\/p>\n On 19\u00a0September 2000 the applicants were brought back to Achkhoy-Martan and informed that they had been charged with kidnapping and participation in an unlawful armed group. <\/span><\/p>\n On 5\u00a0October 2000 they were released.<\/span><\/p>\n On 6 October 2000 the applicants were medically examined. Among other things, they were found to have numerous injuries to their heads and bodies and to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The doctors noted that the traumas and other medical conditions had apparently been sustained in the Chernokozovo SIZO between April and October 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n On 9\u00a0October 2000 the prosecutor\u2019s office informed the applicants that criminal proceedings against them had been discontinued as their involvement in the imputed offences had not been proved. <\/span><\/p>\n From 12 April 2000 onwards the applicants\u2019 relatives applied repeatedly to various official bodies (but not a court) concerning the searches in their house and seizure of their property. They also made applications concerning the applicants\u2019 arrest and detention. After the applicants had been released, they joined their relatives in those efforts. <\/span><\/p>\n The prosecutor\u2019s office refused to bring criminal proceedings in connection with the applicants\u2019 allegations of ill-treatment during their detention from 12 April until 5\u00a0October 2000. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n According to the Government, on 12 April 2000 the applicants\u2019 house was \u201cinspected\u201d (\u043e\u0441\u043c\u043e\u0442\u0440<\/span>) by a police officer of the Achkhoy-Martan VOVD. During that \u201cinspection\u201d, a number of items had been found that, in the Government\u2019s submission, \u201ccould be indicative of the applicants\u2019 participation in illegal armed groups\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Government, on 17 April 2000 the prosecutor\u2019s office of the Achkhoy-Martan District instituted criminal proceedings against the applicants and they were placed in detention in the Achkhoy-Martan VOVD. They were transferred to the Chernokozovo SIZO on 26 April 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n On 29 October 2003 a decision discontinuing the criminal proceedings against the applicants was quashed by the republican prosecutor\u2019s office and the case forwarded for additional investigation. Apparently the proceedings are still pending. <\/span><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0Procedure and composition of the Court<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The application was lodged on 19 July 2000 and declared partly admissible on 30 June 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n Christos Rozakis<\/span> (Greek), President<\/span>,
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\nCHITAYEV AND CHITAYEV v. RUSSIA<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nLoukis Loucaides<\/span> (Cypriot),
\nFran\u00e7oise Tulkens<\/span> (Belgian),
\nNina Vaji\u0107<\/span> (Croatian),
\nAnatoli Kovler<\/span> (Russian),
\nElisabeth Steiner<\/span> (Austrian),
\nKhanlar Hajiyev<\/span> (Azerbaijani), judges<\/span>,<\/p>\n