ECtHR awards over 1.1 million euros to relatives of persons missing after CTO in Chechnya

Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has handed down two decisions on the claims submitted by 16 relatives of the Chechen residents, one of whom was killed by power agents and others went missing. The total compensation amount made 1.129 million euros, says the today's statement posted on the website of the "Legal Initiative".

The complaints were submitted to the ECtHR by 52 applicants, who assert that their relatives had been detained by state agents during a counterterrorist operation (CTO) and taken away to some unknown place, where they perished.

"This decision is particularly important, since compensation of material damage is awarded, while the government had contested it. The ECtHR took the side of the relatives. As a result, they will receive from 2000 to 17,000 euros as compensation of material damage, and 60,000 euros each as compensation of moral harm. The ECtHR has also referred to the case 'Aslakhanova et al. vs. Russia' presented by the 'Legal Initiative', and has stressed once again that the problem of ineffective inquiry into disappearances in Chechnya in 2000-2006 is a systemic one. Based on the today's decision, the criminal case must be reopened, and an efficient investigation must be conducted," the press release quotes Olga Gnezdilova, the judicial director of the "Legal Initiative for Russia".

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