The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the disappearance of two men and a pregnant woman in Chechnya, who were detained on 17 April 2000 in Grozny, Russian Justice Initiative and its partner organization “Astreya” reported.  

The applicants in Bopayeva v Russiaare the relatives of Luiza Dagayeva (née Bopayeva), Sharip Khaysumov and Ramzan Alaudinov, who were all abducted on 17 April 2000 in the vicinity of the Veterinarnaya Street in Grozny, and subsequently detained at the infamous Oktyabrskiy VOVD (temporary department of Interior) of Grozny. Luiza Dagayeva was between four and seventh months pregnant with her third child at the time of her abduction. Various witnesses testified that they had seen the two men and the pregnant woman inside the VOVD, including Alaudin Sadykov, who was severely tortured at the same VOVD between March and May 2000.   

In its judgment the Court referred to the numerous allegations of torture and disappearances perpetrated by servicemen of the Oktyabrsky—namely police officers seconded from Khanty-Mansiysk—many of which have been examined by the Court. In addition to the case of Mr Sadykov, the Court’s judgments in Dzhabayevа v Russia, Yusupova and Zaurbekov v Russia, Magomadovy v. Russia, and Gelayevy v Russia held Russia responsible for the disappearance of four men at the hands of servicemen from the Oktyabrsky VOVD between February and October 2000, and for the often shocking lapses in the investigation into the crimes. 

The Court was struck by numerous failures in the investigation into the disappearance of the applicants’ relatives, in particular by the delay in questioning key witnesses and possible perpetrators, which greatly increased the likelihood of an obstruction of justice by collusion. The Court also condemned in strongest terms the Government’s failure to bring to justice identified perpetrators for a “chain of the gravest human rights abuses” in the previous cases examined by it, which “provide strong evidence of a pattern of illegal detention, torture and disappearances of persons detained at, or indeed simply entering, the premises of the Oktyabrskiy VOVD at the relevant time.”

In its unanimous judgments, the European Court found, among other findings, that:

- The right to life has been violated in respect of Luiza Dagayeva, Sharip Khaysumov and Ramzan Alaudinov (Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights), into which no effective investigation was conducted;
- The applicants suffered inhuman and degrading treatment on account of the Government’s response to their complaints concerning the disappearance of their relatives (Article 3 of the Convention);
- The applicants did not have access to an effective remedy before the Russian authorities for the violations (Article 13 in conjunction with Article 2 of the Convention).

The applicants were awarded a total of 192 000 euro in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

Russian Justice Initiative