ECtHR decision in Baysultanova and Others v. Russia (no. 7461/08) [Arts. 2, 3, 5 and 13 ECHR]

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Date: 
Friday, October 4, 2013

The applicants are Russian nationals who live in Grozny, the Chechen Republic. The case concerned the disappearance of Beslan Baysultanov, the applicants’ son and brother, respectively, in May 2000, after he had been taken away by armed men in uniforms.

Relying on Article 2 (right to life), the applicants complained that their relative had been abducted by Russian servicemen and was to be presumed dead, and that there had been no effective investigation into the incident. Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), they complained of the psychological distress they had suffered as a result of their relative’s disappearance and of the authorities’ failure to carry out a proper investigation. They further complained that their relative had been unlawfully detained, in violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security), and that they had no effective remedies in respect of their complaints under Articles 2 and 3, in breach of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

The Court found violations of Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention in respect of Beslan Baysultanov as well as violation of Article 3 on account of the applicants’ mental distress and violation of Art. 13 as alleged by the applicants. The Court awarded EUR 60,000 to the applicants as a compensation  for non-pecuniary damage and rejected Government’s objection as to non-exhaustion of criminal domestic remedies due to ineffectiveness of the investigation.

 Read the full text of the judgment on the website of the European Court of Human Rights.


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Keywords: 
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Effective remedy (right to)
Detention
Tags: 
ECtHR
European Union