ECtHR awards 317,818 euros to five relatives of missing people from Chechnya

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has found violations of the rights of the applicants in the case of disappearance of five residents of Chechnya in 2001-2006; the relatives of the missing people have been awarded compensation in the total amount of 317,818 euros, says the decision of the court released today.

The decision of the ECtHR was made on the case of "Tovbulatova and others v. Russia", initiated under four applications submitted to the court. The complaints related to violations of the right to life and the right to liberty and security of the applicants' relatives – Magomed Edilov, Akhamdi Isaev, Ali Vadilov, Bulat Chilaev and Aslan Israilov.

The ECtHR has ruled that the Russian authorities should pay to the applicants under the combined claim a total of 300 million euros as compensation for moral harm, 10,000 euros in respect of pecuniary damage, and 7,818 euros as compensation for legal costs, says the press release of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", received today by the "Caucasian Knot".

The press release says that the ECtHR has once again noted in its decision that the kidnappings in Chechnya, which took place mainly in the period from 1999 to 2006, were systemic and that the investigation into these crimes was not effective.