Shakhid Baysayev
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Shakhid Baysayev was a 61-year old Chechen civilian man who was forcibly disappeared and presumably summarily executed after being detained by Russian special police forces in the village of Podgornoye in Chechnya in March 2000. An estimated 5,000 people have "disappeared" in Chechnya since the start of the Second Chechen War in 1999.
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[edit] "Disappearance"
The Russian OMON units had just suffered significant casualties from a friendly fire incident in Grozny and were searching for rebels who were blamed for the incident. Baysayev was detained on his way to work together with about 50 other people and has not been seen since.
Russian soldiers filmed the detention themselves and later sold the videotape to Baysayev's wife Asmart for 1,000 United States dollars, showing Baysayev lying on the ground and being kicked by a soldier before being taken away. She was also given a sketched map purportedly showing where her husband was buried. At the site, she found a fragment of cloth that looked like it came from his coat.
After the detention of her husband, Asmart immediately complained to the authorities. Despite her continued efforts and the existence of the video footage of the detention, however, the Russian authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation.
[edit] ECHR ruling
In the 2007 ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found it "astonishing" that the persons depicted in the video has still not been identified by the investigation. Information about the possible burial place of Asmart's husband has not been properly investigated either.
In its unanimous judgment, the Court made a number of important findings:
- The detention of Baysayev had been unlawful as Russian troops disregarded domestic legal procedures (Article 5 of the European Convention for Human Rights);
- Baysayev must be presumed dead considering circumstances of his detention and the fact that he has been missing for more than six years. The Court held that the Russian government is responsible for his death (Article 2);
- The investigation into the disappearance of Baysayev has been inadequate on numerous accounts (Article 2);
- The suffering of Baysayev's wife as a result of her husband's "disappearance" and the failure of the Russian government to take adequate steps to clarify his fate reaches the threshold of inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3);
- The refusal of the Russian authorities to submit the documents of criminal investigation file constitutes a failure to assist the Court in its investigation (Article 38).
The panel of seven judges, which included the Russian judge, ordered Russia to pay Asmart Baysayeva 50,000 Euro in compensation for moral damages. The government is also obliged to take steps to properly investigate Baysayev’s disappearance. Once the judgment has attained legal force, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will monitor its implementation.
Some 200 similar cases are pending before the Strasbourg court.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- European Court of Human Rights condemns Russia on Chechen disappearance case Russian Justice Initiative
