Shakhid Baysayev

Shakhid Baysayev was a 61-year old Chechen civilian who was forcibly disappeared and presumably summarily executed after being detained by Russian special police forces in the village of Podgornoye on the outskirts of Grozny, Chechnya in March 2000. His body was never found.

"Disappearance"

The Russian OMON units had just suffered significant casualties from a notorious friendly fire incident in Grozny (see Grozny OMON fratricide incident) and were searching for rebels who were blamed for the incident. Baysayev was detained on his way to work together with about 50 other people and vanished. Several people besides Baysayev who were detained in the sweep have not been seen since.

Russian troops filmed the detention themselves and later sold [http://youtube.com/watch?v=nfPWfaPQ79Y the videotape] to Baysayev's wife Asmart for $1,000, showing Baysayev lying on the ground and being kicked by a soldier before being taken away. She was also given a sketched map purportedly showing where her husband was buried. At the site, she found a fragment of cloth that looked like it came from his coat.

After the detention of her husband, Asmart immediately complained to the authorities. Despite her continued efforts and the existence of the video footage of the detention, however, the Russian authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation and Baysayeva turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The European Court case

In the April 5 2007 ruling, the ECHR found it "astonishing" that the persons depicted in the video has still not been identified by the investigation. Information about the possible burial place of Asmart's husband has not been properly investigated either.

In its unanimous judgment, the Court made a number of important findings:

* The detention of Baysayev had been unlawful as Russian troops disregarded domestic legal procedures (Article 5 of the European Convention for Human Rights);
* Baysayev must be presumed dead considering circumstances of his detention and the fact that he has been missing for more than six years. The Court held that the Russian government is responsible for his death (Article 2);
* The investigation into the disappearance of Baysayev has been inadequate on numerous accounts (Article 2);
*The suffering of Baysayev's wife as a result of her husband's "disappearance" and the failure of the Russian government to take adequate steps to clarify his fate reaches the threshold of inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3);
*The refusal of the Russian authorities to submit the documents of criminal investigation file constitutes a failure to assist the Court in its investigation (Article 38).

The panel of seven judges, which included the Russian judge, ordered Russia to pay Asmart Baysayeva 50,000 Euro in compensation for moral damages. The government is also obliged to take steps to properly investigate Baysayev’s disappearance. Once the judgment has attained legal force, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will monitor its implementation.

At the time of the ruling some 200 similar cases were pending before the Strasbourg court. An estimated 5,000 people have "disappeared" in Chechnya since the start of the Second Chechen War in 1999.

References

* [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=815097&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 CASE OF BAYSAYEVA v. RUSSIA] European Court of Human Rights

External links

* [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/05/europe/EU-GEN-European-Court-Chechnya.php European rights court rules against Russia in case of missing Chechen] , "International Herald Tribune", April 5, 2007
* [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05107829.htm Rights court blames Russia for Chechen's abduction] , Reuters/AlertNet, April 5, 2007
* [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/04/5F6A3108-DCD7-483F-B78C-6FC111DF4EF9.html Wife Of Missing Chechen Wins Lawsuit Against Russia] , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 5, 2007
* [http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2007/4/11/37974.html European Court of Human Rights finds Russia guilty in disappearance of man in Chechnya] , Prima-News, April 11, 2005
* [http://www.srji.org/en/news/2007/04/29/ European Court of Human Rights condemns Russia on Chechen disappearance case] , Russian Justice Initiative, April 29, 2005