European Human Rights Advocacy Centre Bulletin NO.25 / SUMMER 2016 ARTICLES Contents Welcome to the Summer 2016 Why we must protect p.3 The perspective of one of the first Chechen applicants to the EHRAC Bulletin European Court and save the European This is the 25th edition of the EHRAC Bulletin. In this anniversary edition we look p.4 In conversation with Lord Judd back on some of our successful cases over the last thirteen years, and discuss current and future priorities. We also wanted to pay tribute to the volunteers and interns who Court of Human Rights p.6 Human rights lawyering in have worked with us over this period; one of our ‘alumni’, Shoaib M Khan, takes a Azerbaijan look at what six of our former interns are doing now, and how the internship helped The perspective of one of the first Chechen applicants them to pursue a career in human rights, whether as part of civil society, the legal p.8 Reflections on the rule of law in community or academia. Libkan Bazayeva, Director of NGO “Women for Development”, Grozny Azerbaijan EHRAC’s first judgments in 2005 were in six cases from Chechnya, concerning tor- p.10 A comparative view on civil society ture, killings and indiscriminate bombing by the Russian security services. Libkan Libkan Bazayeva (Image featured in EHRAC’s 10 Year repression Bazayeva, an applicant in one of these cases, explains the important role the judg- Anniversary Exhibition in 2013) ment from the European Court of Human Rights has played in providing her and p.11 Border issues in Georgia and South those around her with hope of redress. We also speak to Lord Frank Judd, the former Ossetia As someone who has successfully applied to The period from 2000 to 2006 was one of nas- into practical reality for societies and their Council of Europe Special Rapporteur on Chechnya, about how Chechnya changed the European Court of Human Rights,1 the cent but mounting hope. It was a time when governments. The future of humanity relies p.14 Stories from our former interns during his four-year tenure and his experiences on the ground. Some of our earliest year 2000 for me marked the beginning of only a few Chechen complaints were submit- on human rights. cases from Georgia relate to border issues with Russia; Monica Ellena (a journalist in a period of hope for justice and the chance ted to the Court, underwent examination and p.16 The 2015 Armenian constitutional Tbilisi) tells the story of those living in the breakaway region of South Ossetia now, of Government protection from human rights resulted in positive judgments. When the first EHRAC was founded in 2003 to take cases of referendum in light of the International Criminal Court’s decision to launch an investigation into violations. Residents of the Chechen Republic cases by the Strasbourg Court were decided human rights violations originating from the crimes allegedly committed during the 2008 armed conflict. and local leaders, who had tried to seek inter- in favour of those who had suffered as a result Chechen conflict, including indiscriminate p.18 UN observations and recommenda- national protection during the First Chechen of unlawful military operations in Chechnya, bombings, enforced disappearances and tions on preventing and addressing The landscape in Russia and the South Caucasus has, of course, changed since we War (1994-96), had been unable to secure there was a dramatic shift in the mentality of extra-judicial killings. Six of these cases, violence against women were founded in 2003, and we continue to work with our partner NGOs to litigate formal means of internationally protecting hundreds and thousands of victims, who had, including Libkan Bazayeva’s, were decided ground-breaking cases on a number of themes. Over the last few years, the intensi- their rights. Thousands of crimes had not until that point, lost faith in justice. on 24 February 2005, the very first from p.20 Interview with Tamila Tasheva, fication of civil society repression in Russia and Azerbaijan has led to large volumes been accorded adequate legal assessment, Chechnya to be decided by an international KRYM SOS of cases relating to NGO regulation and imprisoned human rights defenders. Kirill and perpetrators went unpunished. This legal There was subsequently a sharp increase in body. Libkan’s car was hit by a bomb on 29 Koroteev (Legal Director, Memorial HRC) explores some of the parallels between the dead-end drove the people of Chechnya to the number of applications submitted to the October 1999 as she and her family were p.22 Friendly settlements and unilateral two countries, while Samed Rahimli, a human rights lawyer in Baku, provides an in- desperation; we lost faith in the justice system Strasbourg Court. The positive precedent in trying to leave a suburb of Grozny to escape declarations in Georgia sight into the experiences of lawyers defending those who protect the rights of others. and the world’s humanity. the Court’s first decisions stimulated a growth fighting between Chechen separatists and Recently released human rights defenders Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov and Anar in people’s legal understanding and demand Russian State forces. Libkan applied to p.24 Recent EHRAC judgments and Mammadli reflect on the use of politically-motivated charges to silence critical voic- I remember how difficult it was to convince amongst the community and the State. This the Court, along with Medka Isayeva and decisions es in Azerbaijan. Women’s rights is another of our priorities: Kate Levine (EHRAC people who had suffered severely as a result was a significant long-term result. Zina Yusupova (also victims of the bomb- Lawyer) explores how UN mechanisms dealing with violence against women have of war crimes committed in Chechnya that ing) in April 2000. The Court found that p.27 Judgments and decisions in engaged with this issue regionally, drawing on our experience of X and Y v Georgia, applying to the Strasbourg Court could lead In a changing world, in which new conflicts Russia had failed in its duty to protect her our cases 2005 - 2016 to something meaningful. Those affected and hotspots are emerging, it is important to right to life, in violation of Article 2 of the the first case from the region to be decided by the UN Committee for the Elimination by the events, suffering because of the war, preserve this institution, the European Court European Convention on Human Rights; of Discrimination Against Women. p.28 Information about EHRAC witnessed daily how war crimes against the of Human Rights. It is the only structure according to the Court, the State had also people were going unpunished; worse still, the which protects individuals from legal injus- failed to conduct an effective, objective and Also writing on the Georgian context, Tamar Abazadze (Strategic Litigation Lawyer, Government was able to commit such viola- tices committed by the Russian State, which thorough investigation, therefore Libkan did Georgian Young Lawyers Association) examines the Government’s recent body of Eu- tions against specific individuals, protected often uses its powerful security resources not have access to an effective remedy, in ropean Court cases decided by way of ‘unilateral declaration’. The referendum on con- by the justification of combatting terrorism. against its own people, asserting the priority violation of Article 13 in conjunction with stitutional reform in Armenia took place on 6 December 2015, highlighting problems of State interests ahead of the interests of the procedural limb of Article 2. Finally, in the fairness of the electoral system; Lousineh Hakobyan (President of the Europe in The year 2000 was a turning point in over- the individual. given that Libkan’s family’s vehicles and Law Association, Yerevan) evaluates the extent to which the way the referendum com- coming our disillusionment and our fear that household items had been destroyed as a plied with international standards. Continuing his series of articles about the effect applying for international protection could lead The European Court of Human Rights, result of the aerial attack, the Court found of the annexation of Crimea on Crimean Tatars, Graham Donnelly (PhD Researcher, to even harsher persecution and punishment along with the Committee of Ministers, will grave and unjustified interferences with her University of Glasgow) speaks to Tamila Tasheva from the NGO KRYM SOS, to dis- by the State. Of course, it is for this reason that soon become the only mechanism capable peaceful enjoyment of her possessions in cuss the challenges they face both in Crimea and mainland Ukraine. only those most convinced that we would have of seeking to persuade States, which have violation of Article 1 of Protocol 1. to fight for justice embarked on this journey. themselves signed Conventions and resolu- Professor Philip Leach, EHRAC Director On the other hand, ordinary people – dispirited tions stating that human rights are of the Notes by the war, living against a background of highest value for contemporary humanity, habitual legal nihilism – were unable to believe to implement these decisions. This is a way 1. Isayeva, Yusupova and Bazayeva v Russia (Nos. 57947/00, 57948/00 and 57949/00), 24.02.2005 that this could be a chance for an objective of translating the legal standards advancing Cover image: Razor wire fence cuts through Bobveni, Georgia (Credit: Monica Ellena, Tbilisi) remedy, delivered by a fair court. democratic values from the legal abstract EHRAC BULLETIN | SUMMER 2016 3 referendum be postponed as, in his opinion, and the North Caucasus, but Russia has taken As our conversation comes to a close, Lord Judd Chechen voters were insufficiently informed little action to implement these judgments, also draws out parallels with the status of human about the referendum and the security beyond the payment of compensation to the rights in the UK, of which he is deeply critical.