European rights court orders Moscow to compensate Chechens

Strasbourg — The European rights court ordered Russia to pay 90,000 euros (122,000 dollars) to the families of two men who were abducted or killed in their villages during Russian operations in Chechnya.

In the first case decided last week, the court awarded 10,000 euros to the mother and 25,000 euros to the wife of Aslanbek Khamidov, abducted from his home in Alleroy in October 2000 by armed men in uniform, who took him away in an armoured vehicle.

The court, a branch of the Council of Europe, said that the village of Alleroy was "under the strict control" of Russian federal forces at the time, and that armed men moving freely around the village had to be agents of the State.

In the second case, the court awarded 52,500 euros (71,400 dollars) to the parents and daughter of Kazbek Taysumov, who was killed on September 7, 2002, together with his wife and elder daughter, in an alleged artillery attack on his village.

Judges ruled that it was very unlikely that their deaths were caused by explosive devices laid by rebels, as army experts suggested, and that they were most likely killed by Russian shelling.

In both cases, the court ruled there was a violation of the right to life and the right to an effective remedy, after Russian investigations came to nothing.

The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned Moscow for its abuses in the predominantly Muslim Caucasian republic, where Russia fought two wars to crush a separatist movement and eventually installed a pro-Moscow government.

So far this year it has issued a dozen condemnations, ruling on the death or disappearance of about 50 Chechens, and awarded more than 600,000 euros to families in damages.

Around 200 Chechen cases are still under investigation by the court.

AFP/Expatica