ECtHR obliges Russia to pay compensation to Chechen woman for her taken-away daughter

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) obliged the authorities of Russia to pay 12,500 euros to Asia Gubasheva, a resident of Chechnya, whose husband did not return her daughter after their divorce. The girl stays in Ingushetia, and the local court's decision to reunite the child with her mother has not been executed for five years already.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Northern Caucasus, it is difficult for a divorced woman to take custody of her children if her former husband decides to keep them. Relatives can impede the mother's communication with her children and put pressure on the children themselves, human rights defenders reported after the death of a four-year-old Makhachkala girl in her stepmother's family.

In 2012, two years before Asia Gubasheva got divorced from her husband, she gave birth to her daughter. The child was left with the father who forbade his former wife to communicate with her daughter, the project "Legal Initiative" reported.

In May 2019, the woman from Chechnya appealed to the ECtHR. The Strasbourg Court found that the state violated the rights of Asia Gubasheva and her daughter to family life, since not all the measures necessary for the reunification of the parent and the child were taken.

Olga Gnezdilova, a lawyer of the project "Legal Initiative", believes that the local authorities would be able to solve the problem if they wanted to.

Earlier, the lawyer has stated that in Northern Caucasus, there is a strong tradition of leaving children in their father's family, which often leads to the isolation of the children from the society.