European Court finds Russia responsible for disappearance of Chechen man in 2000

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SRJI Russian Justice Initiative

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Jul 4, 2013, 10:31:07 AM7/4/13
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European Court finds Russia responsible for disappearance of Chechen man in 2000

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The European Court found Russia responsible for the abduction and subsequent disappearance of a Chechen man from his home in the village of Ken-Yurt in May 2000, Russian Justice Initiative and its partner organization, Astreya, reported today.  

The applicants in the case Baysultanova and others v Russia are the close relatives of Beslan Baysultanov, who was taken from his family home for a “passport check” early in the morning during the “curfew hours” of 7 May 2000 by federal servicemen and was never seen again. The applicants were initially told that Beslan had been detained at the Grozny VOVD (temporary internal affairs department) and that he could be exchanged for “six assault rifles.” Subsequently, several days following the abduction, the applicants found a handwritten note at their home saying that Beslan had been abducted by “K’s men,” or servicemen from the “West” battalion. The applicants travelled to the premises of the battalion several times and recognized one of the servicemen who had participated in Beslan’s abduction.  Their search for Beslan was ultimately fruitless, and in 2007, Beslan’s sister was held at gunpoint by a group of people who took from her the file containing the records of her search for her brother, including the handwritten note the applicants had found seven years earlier.  

The effectiveness of the investigation was undermined in its early stages by the authorities’ failure to take necessary and urgent investigative measures. The criminal case into the disappearance of Beslan Baysultanov was opened only  in June 2001, over a year after the abduction.  Only one of the applicants was granted victim status in the criminal investigation, and only after almost five years since the opening of the investigation. Witnesses to the abduction were interviewed only four years after the abduction, sometimes later.  

The authorities refused to provide the applicants or the Court with the materials of the criminal case file in full and offered no explanation for the time it took to carry out basic investigative measures.

In its unanimous judgment, the European Court found that the right to life had been violated in respect of Beslan Baysultanov and that the Russian authorities had failed to conduct an effective investigation into his disappearance. The close relatives of the victims were also deemed to have been subjected to inhuman treatment due to the authorities’ response to their complaints, and to have had no effective remedy at their disposal within Russia to deal with the violations. The applicant was awarded 60,000 euro in respect of moral damages. Learning of the judgment, one of the applicants said: “I really want to know what happened to my brother. You can't kill someone twice and I already died once when they took Beslan away 13 years ago. That is why I am not afraid to continue to fight for the truth now with this judgment in hand.”

For more information:

In Moscow, Anastasia Kushleyko, Legal Director, “Astreya:” +7 (495) 915-0869, +7 (962) 932-7878.

In Moscow, Vanessa Kogan, Executive Director, Russian Justice Initiative; Director, “Astreya”:  +7 (495) 915-0869, +7 925 863 5111.

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