The European Court has handed down the first judgement of a case stemming from Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov’s rule. The case regards Tamerlan Suleymanov, who was abducted in spring 2011. This shows that grave human rights violations and impunity in Chechnya has not ended with the armed conflict.
On 25 November, Civil Rights Defender’s partner, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, organised a protest against the discriminatory provision of the Bosnian constitution, implying that only members of the three main ethnic groups can hold high political offices. According to the European Court of Human Rights, this violates the right to free and fair elections and the prohibition of discrimination.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian Federation violated the right to education in the cases of Moldovan schools using Latin in the region of Transnistria. The court has sentenced Russia to pay one million and twenty thousand EUR in respect of non-pecuniary damage and fifty thousand EUR for costs and expenses.
The human rights lawyer Sapiyat Magomedova has been awarded the Swedish Government’s Per Anger Prize. In the violent Dagestan, she defends victims of grave human rights violations. She has taken on cases that many lawyers would reject due to security reasons. And she has won legal cases in a context where it is almost impossible to do so. For people in the region she has become a symbol of courage.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Moldova violated the right to freedom of assembly and the prohibition of discrimination when a demonstration for LGBT people’s rights was banned in 2005. “We are very satisfied with this court ruling. It is a historic moment for the work for equal rights in Moldova”, said Åsa Bergqvist, Programme Officer at Civil Rights Defenders.
After two days of oral pleadings before a demanding panel of judges, the team “Vladimir Bayer” from the University of Zagreb, was declared winner of our regional Moot Court competition for the Western Balkans.
We sue Sweden for Daniel’s death – In 2005, 22-year-old Daniel Franklert Murne was shot to death in his parents’ home in Lindesberg, Sweden. He would probably still be alive had the police not used expanding bullets. With our help, the family now takes legal action against Sweden in the European Court of Human Rights. Read this and more in Civil Rights Defenders latest newsletter.
In March 2005, 22-year-old Daniel Franklert Murne was shot dead by police in his parents’ home in Lindesberg, Sweden. The subsequent police investigation was defective and, with reference to self-defense, no one was held responsible. Daniel’s parents and sister are now suing Sweden before the European Court with our assistance.
We have signed the joint statement on strengthening the protection of human rights in Europe. This initiative is a reaction to some of the proposed changes of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to reduce the case burden of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the enforced disappearance of a Chechen man in October 2004. The judgment is an important result of our cooperation with Russian Justice Initiative.
Four new rulings by the European Court of Human Rights confirm Russia’s reluctance to effectively investigate serious human rights violations in Chechnya. The cases have been brought before the court by Civil Rights Defenders together with Russian Justice Initiative.
A coalition of human rights organisations, among them Civil Rights Defenders, regrets Russia’s lack of cooperation with the Austrian judiciary, in the case against the alleged murderers of Chechen refugee Umar Israilov. A verdict is expected June 1st.
In order to contribute to a higher observance of the European Convention in Moldova, Civil Rights Defenders cooperate with Lawyers for Human Rights in translating the jurisprudence of the European Court concerning Moldova into Romanian language.
On April 15th to 17th, we are organising the fifth Moot court competition for law students from the Western Balkans. The students are trained in the procedures of the European Court. Five judges from the European Court will sit on the jury.
Our cooperation with the Russian Justice Initiative has so far resulted in 100 convictions against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights. Overall, Russia has been convicted 160 times for gross human rights violations in the North Caucasus. Most cases that we have conducted in the European Court date from 2002. But the brutality [...]
The European Court has found Russia responsible for the deaths of two Chechen men and the disappearance of one. These two latest verdicts mean that Russia has been convicted of serious human rights violations in 100 cases, as a result of our cooperation with Russian Justice Initiative.
Between 2001 and 2007 Zivota Milanovic from Jagodina, Seriba, member of Hindu Vaishnava religious community, was attacked five times because of his religious beliefs. We have been working actively on the case together with our partner.
Together with a group of human rights organisations we urge the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to follow-up on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus.
The cooperation between Russian Justice Initiative and Civil Rights Defenders aims at highlighting the failure of the rule of law in Russia by taking legal approaches to secure legal remedies and reparations for victims of serious human rights abuses committed during the conflict in Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics, such as extraordinary killings, torture and enforced disappearances.
The right to liberty and security was violated when 72 persons were unlawfully held in detention, says the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in a case submitted by our partner, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee in co-operation with Civil Rights Defenders.
Human rights defenders in the North Caucasus live under constant threat. They fear for their lives and the lives and health of their families. Civil Rights Defenders has initiated the Stockholm Process so that they can continue their important work.
The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the disappearance and torture of a Chechen man detained at his home by Russian federal troops in year 2000. The victims family was awarded 106,000 EUR in respect of material and moral damages.
On April 20 the European Court of Human Rights condemned Albania for having violated the right to a fair trial and the prohibition against torture in the case Lika and Laska vs Albania.
Team Prima Iustiniana from the law faculty at the University of Skopje in Macedonia was the winning team of this year’s moot court competition. Team Radomir Lukic from Novi Sad in Serbia was ranked second in the competition.
In April 23-25 Civil Rights Defenders will arrange the fourth moot court competition in Rijeka, Croatia. The involvement of Law schools from five countries, professors, highly experienced judges from the region, makes the Moot Court competition a unique opportunity for education.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia must pay a record compensation to a man with mental disabilities who has been illegally detained. This is a great victory for us and our partner Mental Disability Advocacy Center.
The situation in Chechnya has been characterised by grave human rights abuses, including forced disappearances, extra judicial killings and torture. Together with RJI, Civil Rights Defenders launch legal proceedings before Russian institutions and the European Court of Human Rights and provide direct legal consultations for victims and their relatives on ways of defending their rights.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Russia to pay EUR 120,000 in damages to the families of two Chechen men, Zurab Iriskhanov and Abu Aliyev, who were arrested in their homes in Samashki and Grozny in 2002 and have not returned since.
In cooperation with Young Lawyers of Serbia, Civil Rights Defenders are organising the fourth regional Moot Court competition for law students from the Western Balkans, with the aim to increase practical knowledge on cases, rules and procedures of the European Court on Human Rights, both among students at Law faculties and among existing legal professionals.
Russia has ratified protocol 14 of the European Convention, which aims at making the work of the court more effective. This is an important step which, in the long run, will shorten processing times for the hundreds of thousands that have turned to the court asking for justice.
The European Court for Human Rights has ruled that Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminated against Jews and Roma by forbidding them to stand for key elected posts, including parliament and the presidency.
According to the European Court of Human Rights Russia bears responsibility for six forced disappearances in Chechnya in 2003. All six men were detained illegally and must be presumed dead.
Russia is urged by the UN Human Rights Committee to strengthen the protection for persons with disabilities. An important source of information was the shadow report that our partner Mental Disability Rights Foundation presented in October.
The pressure on russian human rights activists are increasing. On Tuesday a court in Moscow sentenced the human rights organization Memorial and it’s Director Oleg Orlov for defamation of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Memorial and Oleg Orlov will have to pay 70 000 rubles, about 18 000 SEK. – The sentence against Orlov and Memorial [...]
the third edition of the Moot Court competition, arranged by Civil Rights Defenders and the organisation Young Lawyers of Serbia, was won by the team from University of Rijeka, Croatia. The competition was held April 24-26 in Kotor, Montenegro and ten teams participated. This was the third time a team from Croatia won the competition.
Russia has been convicted for the hundredth time for human rights crimes committed in Chechnya. Four of five cases, decided on April 23, have been run by the Swedish Helsinki Committee in collaboration with Russian Justice Initiative or Memorial and concern disappearances or murder. On April 23 the European court for human rights announced verdicts [...]
On April 24-26 the Swedish Helsinki Committee and the organization Young Lawyers of Serbia arrange a trial game in the Western Balkans. Judges from high courts in the region and from the European Court in Strasbourg will participate in the panel of judges. In total 10 teams from Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia will participate in this year’s competition.
Of the 163 cases reported up until now by The Swedish Helsinki Committee and The Russian Justice Initiative (RJI) to The European Court of Justice , 36 have been resolved, 25 of them in 2008. In all the cases, the judgement has been that Russia is guilty of gross violation of human rights in northern [...]
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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