At ECtHR, widow of Chechen resident claims violation of her right to raise her child

In her complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Elita Magomadova has pointed out the violation in Chechnya of her right to raise her minor son. After Chechen courts had pronounced the decisions about leaving her minor son with her ex-husband, the woman has not been able to see her son for more than two years. And even after the death of her ex-husband in a road traffic accident, Elita Magomadova cannot see her son.

"While determining the place of residence of the minor child with his father, the courts of the Chechen Republic have taken into account the national specifics of raising of children in Chechen families: for example, when Chechen man and woman initiate a divorce, their children in general are to be raised in a family of their father," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Olga Gnezdilova, the legal director of the project "Legal Initiative", who protects the interests of Elita Magomadova.

She believes that such an attitude of the Russian authorities "directly recognizes the discrimination of mothers in Northern Caucasus", i.e., the violation of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (right to respect for one's private and family life).

"According to Chechen traditions, after the divorce, minor children stay with their fathers, and their mothers are even often forbidden to visit them. In contrast to the Soviet era, Chechen courts are very reluctant to accept the side of children's mother, who wants her children to live with her," states the report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) "Chechnya: internal abroad".

Olga Gnezdilova has noted that at present, apart from the case of Elita Magomadova, the project "Legal Initiative" is engaged in other similar cases appealed to the ECtHR.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.