- Memorial Supports Action in Defense of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution

A group of citizens - Lyudmila Alekseeva, Konstantin Kosyakin and Eduard Savenko (Limonov) - in accordance with the Russian law have once again filed an application to carry out a public action in defense of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution in Triumfalnaya square. This time the organizers have requested to set the action for 6 p.m. on May 31.

Moscow authorities again refused to agree to the picket. It was the ninth refusal for carrying out such an action at an indicated place and time. The pretence of the refusal was provocative, as has been the case with most of such recent pretences: supposedly there will be another cultural event held in the square.

Such behaviour by the authorities demonstrates flagrant disrespect for the Russian law. Article 31 of the Russian Constitution says: "Citizens of the Russian Federation have a right to gather peacefully without arms, carry out gatherings, meetings and demonstrations, processions and pickets". According to this article the organizers of the picket declared their intention to carry out a peaceful meeting in defense of Article 31 in Triumfalnaya square every 31th, in spite of an illegal refusal by the authorities.

Human Rights Center Memorial finds the demonstrative refusal to permit the action unacceptable. Regarding this, we, as well as the Moscow Helsinki group and All-Russia Movement "For human rights", support the action and will go to Triumfalnaya square on May 31, at 6 p.m. We will wear badges in defense of Article 31.

We call on the authorities to abide by the law.

We hope that authorities will not strike out in violence against participants of the action who will be exercising their constitutional right.

- Khutsayev and others vs. Russia. Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

On May 27, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights pronounced a judgment in the case of "Khutsayev and others vs The Russian Federation" (Application №16622/05).

The applicants in the case are two families from the village of Gekhi in the Urus-Martan region of the Chechnyan Republic of Russia. The case concerns the illegal apprehension and subsequent disappearance of Beslan Khutsayev, Movsar Khutsayev and Adam Didayev, all close relatives of the plaintiffs.

The applicants were represented by lawyers of HRC Memorial and the European Human Rights Advocacy Center (EHRAC, London).

On the night of 16 December 2001, armed men in camouflage and masks broke into the home of Isa Khutsayev whereupon they ordered Isa and his son Movsar to exit the home and lie face flat on the ground. Another of Isa’s sons, Beslan, was already lying outside the home covered in blood. The armed men searched the father and his sons and seized their personal documents, all while insulting and beating them. The intruders, after searching the Khutsayevs home, carried away Belsan and Movsar along with some personal belongings and 12,000 Rubles in cash. Isa’s wife, Berlant Khutsayeva, witnessed the event, and saw her sons being placed in military vehicles (multiple armored personnel carriers and "Ural" jeeps were loitering around the village cemetery) and driven away to an unknown location.

Adam Didayev was apprehended on the same night and disappeared under similar conditions.

On 25 February 2002, the district prosecutor’s office of the Urus-Martan region instituted a criminal investigation concerning the disappearance of the Khutsayevs and Didayev. The investigation was subsequently suspended multiple times, without notifying the relatives.

The relatives appealed to the judiciary on numerous occasions, demanding that it declare the prosecutor office’s suspensions of the investigation illegal. However, in 2004, the city court of Urus-Martan rejected the applicant’s case. The supreme court of Chechnya, upon reviewal, did not revise the lower court’s decision. The investigation has still not been completed and the guilty parties have yet to be found and prosecuted.

The European Court found that, in respect to Beslan Khutsayev, Movsar Khutsayev and Adam Didayev, Article 2 (the right to life) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms had been materially violated (in other words, the court found the Russian authorities accessories to the murders). The Court also found that Article 2 had been procedurally violated: The Russian authorities are liable for not executing a thorough and judicious investigation of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and murder of the young men.

The Court found that Article 3 of the Convention ("No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment") had also been violated materially and procedurally in respect to the Khutsayevs and Didayev.

The Court additionally found that Article 3 had been violated in respect to the applicants themselves on the grounds of the emotional trauma suffered by the concerned parties.

The Court also found that Article 5 ("Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person") and Article 8 ("Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life") and Article 1 of Protocol 1 ("Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions") had been violated.

Article 13 of the Convention ("the inalienable right to an effective remedy before the law") had also been violated along with Articles 1, 5, 8, and 1 of Protocol 1.

The Court holds that Russia is liable to compensate the applicants in the amount 1.662 Euros for material damage, 142.000 for emotional damage, and and additional 1.368 Euros for legal fees.

For further information: Memorial