European Court of Human Rights to hear Chechen casesRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus – On October 14 the European Court of Human Rights, for the first time, will hear six complaints lodged by citizens of the Chechen Republic against the Russian Federation, announced the Nazran office of the human rights centre Memorial.
The six complaints had been merged into three cases and the applicants accuse the Russian military of killing their relatives, destroying their property and causing undue emotional suffering.
According to Memorial, the best-known case is Magomed Khashiyev, whose brother, sister and two other relatives were killed by Russian soldiers in Grozny in 2000. Although criminal investigations had been started, they were repeatedly suspended and reopened with no conclusion ever being reached.
The human rights defenders feel that the very fact that these cases will now be tried by the Strasbourg-based court is a small victory in their efforts that have lasted nearly five years.
In the event the court will rule in favor of the applicants, which almost no one doubts, it is almost certain that the number of complaints submitted by Chechens will sharply increase. (H/E,T)
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