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Annual Report 2009

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Annual Report 2009 RUSSIAN JUSTICE INITIATIVE ПРАВОВАЯ ИНИЦИАТИВА ANNUAL REPORT 2009 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Who we are 4 Foreword - Activities in 2009 5 Our Cases 6 Raid on Duba-Yurt, 27 March 2004 7 Torture at Khankala 8 The Shelling of Chechen-Aul 9 “Zachistka” in Tsosti-Yurt, 1-8 September 2002 10 Responding to the South Ossetia Conflict of August 2008 12 Increasing Knowledge and Capacity 13 After the Judgment: A New Mandate 14 Evaluating Impact 16 2010 Objectives and Activities 17 Staff, Board and Committees 18 Finances, Supporters and Acknowledgements 3 WHO WE ARE The Russian Justice Initiative is one of the foremost strategic litigation and legal aid organizations in Eastern Europe, and the only organization dedicated to seeking redress for serious human rights violations in the North Caucasus. Russian Justice Initiative is a Dutch legal aid organization founded in 2001 and based in Moscow which jointly imple- ments strategic litigation with its domestic partner, Pravovaia Initsiativa, based in Nazran, Ingushetia. While RJI initially focused on grave human rights violations stemming exclusively from Chechnya’s second armed conflict, it expanded its activities to other republics of the North Caucasus in 2007 as abuses began spreading across the entire North Caucasus region. OUR GOALS To combat impunity for grave human rights abuses in the North and South Caucasus. To increase knowledge of and promote respect for rights guaran- teed by the Russian constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights, among professionals and the general public. “Return Our Sons” is the message of these protestors whose sons have been forcibly disappeared by Russian military forces. Following the most recent outbreak of violence over the South Ossetia region in August 2008, RJI initiated a partnership with the Georgian Young Lawyers Association in Tbilisi in order to conduct litigation surrounding serious conflict-related human rights violations. RJI focuses on the gravest abuses that have afflicted Chechnya for decades, and which today continue to occur through- out the North Caucasus: arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and extra-judicial execution. RJI’s lawyers enable victims of such abuses and their family members to seek justice on the international level at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Since 2006, the Court has handed down almost 80 positive judgments in the organization’s cases. RJI seeks to maxi- mize the implications of these judgments on the domestic level through its work on implementation, as part of its overall aim to combat impunity and build capacity to address human rights abuses in Russia. RJI’s work remains as urgent as ever, as by the end of 2009, most of RJI’s cases will still end up at the ECtHR and the Russian government will not yet have done enough to halt continuing abuses or address past crimes. 3 FOREWORD - ACTIVITIES IN 2009 By the end of 2009 the Russian Justice Initiative had won 79 cases at the European Court of Human Rights—almost two-thirds of the Court’s entire case-law on the North Caucasus. RJI’s tremendous success in its international litigation testifies to the unwaveringly high quality of the organization’s legal work and to the dedication of the Moscow and Ingushetia staff, many of whom were founding members of the project in 2001. The Court awarded the organization’s clients over EUR 3 million in moral compensation in 2009. As the Court throughout 2009 continued to resoundingly condemn Russia for disappearances, extra-judicial killings and torture in Chechnya and Ingushetia, and to criticize ineffective domestic investigations, RJI devoted significant resources and strategic planning time to the implementation stage, preparing comprehensive submissions on individual and general measures for the Committee of Ministers, establishing important contacts at the Council of Europe, providing documenta- tion to our clients on the post-judgment stage, and drawing more international attention to the Court’s growing case-law, all of which increases pressure on Russia to implement the judg- ments in good faith and allows us to better monitor the Govern- We are very happy with today’s ment’s effort in that regard. judgment. However, for us the The increased attention to the Court’s growing case-law has ”most important thing is to find generated interest in the organization’s work from the press and out exactly what happened to our from academics, and RJI’s senior staff are frequently invited to loved-ones. We hope this judg- give lectures and trainings on human rights litigation. We also ment will help us establish this. continue to devote time to developing the capacity of local Taisa Kanayeva, relative of Said-Selim Kanayev, an and independent lawyers to engage in international litigation. applicant in the case Arzu Akhamdova and others” v Despite the alarming deterioration of human rights and security Russia in the North Caucasus throughout 2009, the organization continued to bring new cases through the domestic legal system to the ECtHR, and intensified its efforts to reach victims in Dagestan. Following the creation of the South Caucasus Justice Project (SCJP) in September 2008 and a year-long grant from the Open Society Institute in January 2009 to continue litigation in partnership with the Georgian Young Lawyers Associa- tion, the SCJP had submitted over 20 applications to the ECtHR from the South Caucasus by the end of 2009. In 2010 the project on the South Caucasus will enter its second year with a focus on continuing conflict-related violations such as ethnic cleansing and serious cases of arbitrary detention. In 2010 we expect the Court to hand down more positive judgments in cases from the North Caucasus. We hope to make progress on the domestic level re-litigating cases post-ECtHR judgment, and to report on our progress and make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers. We are also hopeful that we may succeed in forging a constructive dialogue with the Russian authorities regarding implementation as we move forward in our efforts to bring about systemic changes in Russian law enforcement practices. 4 5 OUR CASES By providing legal assistance to victims of grave human rights abuses in the North and South Caucasus, we secure legal redress and reparations for victims and set important precedent in domestic and European courts. In 2009, RJI represented victims of grave human rights abuses and their families from the North and South Caucasus before domestic prosecutorial and law enforcement bodies in Russia and Georgia and before the European Court of Hu- man Rights. By the end of 2009, RJI was representing over 1,250 clients from the North Caucasus and over 220 clients from Georgia and South Ossetia. Approximately 300 cases were pending at the ECtHR by the end of the year from the North Caucasus. In mid-2009, the ECtHR communicated seven cases against Georgia to the Georgian government, two of which have since become part of RJI’s caseload from the South Caucasus. The majority of new cases submitted to the Court in 2009 from the North Caucasus concerned enforced disap- pearances, torture, extra-judicial execution, non-return of bodies and arbitrary detention. Cases submitted during 2009 from the South Caucasus focused on some of the severest and most well-documented cases of the August 2008 war, which will lay the groundwork for the establishment of legal precedent concerning the application of the European Con- vention during armed conflict. Many cases that reach the ECtHR from the North Caucasus qualify for expedited review, which means the admissibility and merits are considered together. Thus our cases are consistently communicated at a faster pace to the Government and judgments on the merits are reached more quickly. Judgments on the North Caucasus by representative Since mid-2006, when the first judgment in one of the as of December 2009 organization’s cases was handed down, until end 2008, RJI had won 37 cases at the ECtHR. Over the past year Russian Justice alone this number more than doubled as the Court handed 42 Initiative down 42 judgments, bringing the total number of cases Others won by RJI on the international level to 79. Several of these 79 judgments are highlighted on the following pages. In all cases in which the Russian government has ap- pealed the Court’s judgment, the Court has either de- clined to review the appeal, or has rejected the appeal. Judgments in our cases therefore become final, as a rule, within three to six months after the judgment. With few exceptions, the Russian government pays all awards within the deadline set by the Court. In 2009 the Court awarded the organization’s clients over EUR 3 million in moral compensation and over EUR 450,000 in material compensation. RJI was awarded approximately EUR 275,000 in legal costs, which it receives directly from the Government and then transfers to the orga- Case Progress in NC SC: SC: Geor- Totals, all nization’s endowment fund. 2009 Russia gia years RJI’s website is the most comprehensive resource for infor- Submitted 25 21 3 215 Communicated 17 -2 113 mation concerning cases from the North Caucasus brought Admissible 2 - 42 by various representatives to the ECtHR. Summaries of all Judgments 42 - 79 cases can be accessed at: www.srji.org/en/legal/cases. 4 5 Raid on Duba-Yurt, Bitiyeva and others v Russia Number: 36156/04, Judgment: 23 April 2009 27 March 2004 Main Violation: Disappearance and Extra-judicial Killing In the early hours of 27 March 2004, Russian servicemen conducted a raid on the village of Duba-Yurt, Chechnya, breaking into several houses and detaining 11 men. Three later returned home, while eight disappeared. On 9 April, the dead bodies of the eight men were discovered in a neighboring village.
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