ECtHR communicates complaints filed by relatives of men from Chechen "execution list"

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) demanded from the Russian authorities to comment before March 3, 2020, on complaint filed by residents of Chechnya about kidnapping and killing of their relatives in 2017.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 23, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Committee against Torture (CaT), and the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" made public the testimonies of persons who witnessed the detention of Chechen residents from the "execution list." The human rights defenders noted that the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) refused to institute criminal proceedings on the possible killing of 27 people.

"Investigators claimed that the disappeared men joined illegal armed formations (IAFs) and left for Syria," the "Legal Initiative" reports on its website.

According to project lawyer Rustam Matsev, the authorities are to comment on every item on which relatives of the disappeared persons complain about a violation of their rights.

The ECtHR communicated the complaint under Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), 5 (right to liberty and security of person), and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Let us remind you that on July 9, 2017, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported that at night on January 26, 2017, in Chechnya, persons detained after an attack on policemen in Grozny on December 17, 2016, were executed.