The Russian Authorities Found Responsible for the Forced Disappearance of a Resident of Dagestan
Human Rights Center Memorial
The Russian Authorities Found Responsible for the Forced Disappearance of a Resident of Dagestan
On June 12, 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled on the case “Umarov and Umarova against Russia” (Umarov and Umarova v. Russia, complaint №2546/08). The Court found that the Russian authorities have violated Article 2 (right for life), Article 3 (inhuman or degrading treatment), Article 5 (right for liberty and security) and Article 13 (right for an effective remedy) of the European Convention on protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The applicants are the father and sister of abducted and presumably killed Ramazan Umarov, born in 1974. The applicants were represented by lawyers of the Human Rights Centre Memorial (Moscow) and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC, London).
On April 28, 2007 Ramazan Umarov was arrested by unidentified police officers in his apartment in Makhachkala, Dagestan. Along with him two other men were detained who were subsequently charged with illegal possession of weapons. The following day, on learning of the detention of Ramazan, his family appealed to the law enforcement authorities in Dagestan. Over a few weeks Umarov family tried to find out the location of Ramazan, met with people who presumably had the information about his whereabouts, but without any results. On May 19 the Prosecutor's Office of Sovetskiy district of Makhachkala initiated a criminal case on abduction of Ramazan Umarov.
The investigation of the case has been suspended six times. In course of seven months no results have been achieved. There was no news from Ramazan. On December 18, 2007 Umarov and Umarova appealed to the Court.
The Russian Government claimed that during the investigation could not prove that Ramazan Umarov was dead, or indeed that officers of law enforcement authorities had been involved in his disappearance. In addition, the Government argued that the official investigation had carried effectively.
The Court held that the absence of Ramazan Umarov for about four years from the date of arrest was sufficient evidence to presume him death, which consists a violation of his right for life (Article 2 of the Convention).
In addition, the Court noted numerous omissions in actions of the investigative authorities. For example, "the investigators did not examine scene of crime, did not check the registration logs of detainees in the police office, where he had been allegedly taken." In addition, the investigation was suspended six times, for this reason, according to the Court, for the investigators it was extremely difficult to identify and prosecute the responsible persons. Consequently, the Court found a violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its procedural part.
The Court found that the Russian government had violated Article 3 in respect of the applicants (inhuman or degrading treatment) of the Convention, as the applicants did not know anything about Ramazan’ whereabouts for four years, and consequently have suffered heavily. The investigating authorities did not conduct an effective investigation regarding the disappearance, which aggravated the sufferings of Umarov family.
The Court concluded that the authorities should have investigated the abduction of Umarov more thoroughly and promptly and his illegal detention constituted a violation of the rights for liberty and security in virtue of Article 5 of the Convention. The Court also noted that the applicants were not provided with an effective remedy in violation of Article 13.
The Court held the Russian authorities have to pay a fair compensation to the applicants.
June 13, 2012