European Court: Russia Pronounced Guilty of Death of Five Children in Bombing of Chechen Village
2 views
Skip to first unread message
Memorial.Rus
May 30, 2012, 7:28:57 AM5/30/12
to hrcmemo...@googlegroups.com
European Court: Russia Pronounced Guilty of Death of Five
Children in Bombing of Chechen Village
On May 29, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (‘Court’) ruled on the case “Damaev vs Russia” (Complaint No 36150/04). The Court found Russia guilty of violating Article 2 (Right to Life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘Convention’) in respect to the relatives of the applicant.
The applicant was represented by lawyers from the Human Rights Center
“Memorial” and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC, London).
The applicant in the case was Russian citizen Imar-Ali Mutalievich Damaev, from the mountain village of Rigakhoy in the Vedeno region of Chechnya.
Imar-Ali and his wife, Maidat Tsintsaeva (b. 1975) had six small children.
On April 8, 2004, at around 1.30pm, two military planes made several airstrikes on the village of Rigakhoy. After about an hour, an airstrike hit the edge of the village. At that time Damaev was at a cemetery away from the village, and his son was at school. Maidat Tsintsaeva and the remaining five children were at home. Hearing the explosions, Imar-Ali rushed home. As he approached, he saw that his house had been completely destroyed. Searching through the ruins, the applicant discovered his wife and children. They were buried according, to custom, before sundown.
That same day, the village residents informed the law enforcement agencies of the Vededno region of Chechnya of the deaths during the bombing.
On the morning of April 13, representatives from the Military Prosecutor’s Office visited the village. They told Damaev that the military planes had not been bombing and shooting at the village, but at insurgents. Seeing the ruins, the military told Damaev that there were no grounds for opening a criminal case, and that the house had been destroyed as a result of the explosion of a gas cylinder or an explosive device that Imar-Ali himself had been storing. The applicant demanded the exhumation of the bodies of the victims. The military replied that they did not have a medical examiner with them, and they promised to conduct an exhumation at a later date.
That same day, Natalia Estemirova, from the HRC “Memorial”, was also in the village of Rigakhoy. She photographed the aftermath of the bombing, the ruins of the house and the labeled bomb fragments. The residents themselves opened the grave and photographs and video footage of the victims was taken. The case received widespread coverage.
A criminal case into the death of members of the family of the applicant was
opened eight days after the tragic death of Damaev’s family.
In its decision, the Court ruled that the Russian government had not provided the Court with the requested materials for this criminal case. In the absence of any reasonable explanation from the government for what happened, the Court came to the conclusion that the wife and children of Imar-Ali Damaev were killed as a result of an attack by the Federal Air Force, and it found a violation of Article 2 of the Convention. The Court also ruled that in violation of Article 2, the authorities did not conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of the applicant’s family members.
The Court did not find a violation of Article 8 and Article 1 of Protocol No 1 (protection of property rights), because the applicant couldn’t provide the necessary evidence. This part of the complaint was considered manifestly unreasonable.
In addition, citing Article 41 of the Convention, the applicant requested an
independent investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of his family
members, but nevertheless the Court left the State the right to decide
independently on the methods for implementation of the judgment.
The Court ordered the State to award the applicant with compensation for moral damages and court costs.
Thus, the circumstances of the death of the Damaev’s wife and children were not doubted by the Court, even in the absence of materials on the criminal case, which the Court unsuccessfully requested from the government. Russia was found guilty of the death of the family of the applicant during the course of combat operations in Chechnya in 2004.
May 30, 2012
On May 29, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (‘Court’) ruled on the case “Damaev vs Russia” (Complaint No 36150/04). The Court found Russia guilty of violating Article 2 (Right to Life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘Convention’) in respect to the relatives of the applicant.
The applicant was represented by lawyers from the Human Rights Center
“Memorial” and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC, London).
The applicant in the case was Russian citizen Imar-Ali Mutalievich Damaev, from the mountain village of Rigakhoy in the Vedeno region of Chechnya.
Imar-Ali and his wife, Maidat Tsintsaeva (b. 1975) had six small children.
On April 8, 2004, at around 1.30pm, two military planes made several airstrikes on the village of Rigakhoy. After about an hour, an airstrike hit the edge of the village. At that time Damaev was at a cemetery away from the village, and his son was at school. Maidat Tsintsaeva and the remaining five children were at home. Hearing the explosions, Imar-Ali rushed home. As he approached, he saw that his house had been completely destroyed. Searching through the ruins, the applicant discovered his wife and children. They were buried according, to custom, before sundown.
That same day, the village residents informed the law enforcement agencies of the Vededno region of Chechnya of the deaths during the bombing.
On the morning of April 13, representatives from the Military Prosecutor’s Office visited the village. They told Damaev that the military planes had not been bombing and shooting at the village, but at insurgents. Seeing the ruins, the military told Damaev that there were no grounds for opening a criminal case, and that the house had been destroyed as a result of the explosion of a gas cylinder or an explosive device that Imar-Ali himself had been storing. The applicant demanded the exhumation of the bodies of the victims. The military replied that they did not have a medical examiner with them, and they promised to conduct an exhumation at a later date.
That same day, Natalia Estemirova, from the HRC “Memorial”, was also in the village of Rigakhoy. She photographed the aftermath of the bombing, the ruins of the house and the labeled bomb fragments. The residents themselves opened the grave and photographs and video footage of the victims was taken. The case received widespread coverage.
A criminal case into the death of members of the family of the applicant was
opened eight days after the tragic death of Damaev’s family.
In its decision, the Court ruled that the Russian government had not provided the Court with the requested materials for this criminal case. In the absence of any reasonable explanation from the government for what happened, the Court came to the conclusion that the wife and children of Imar-Ali Damaev were killed as a result of an attack by the Federal Air Force, and it found a violation of Article 2 of the Convention. The Court also ruled that in violation of Article 2, the authorities did not conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of the applicant’s family members.
The Court did not find a violation of Article 8 and Article 1 of Protocol No 1 (protection of property rights), because the applicant couldn’t provide the necessary evidence. This part of the complaint was considered manifestly unreasonable.
In addition, citing Article 41 of the Convention, the applicant requested an
independent investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of his family
members, but nevertheless the Court left the State the right to decide
independently on the methods for implementation of the judgment.
The Court ordered the State to award the applicant with compensation for moral damages and court costs.
Thus, the circumstances of the death of the Damaev’s wife and children were not doubted by the Court, even in the absence of materials on the criminal case, which the Court unsuccessfully requested from the government. Russia was found guilty of the death of the family of the applicant during the course of combat operations in Chechnya in 2004.
May 30, 2012
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages