|
MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-33 |
5 December 2024 |
|
1514th meeting, 3-5 December 2024 (DH)
H46-33 Khashiyev and Akayeva group v. Russian Federation (Application No. 57942/00) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference documents |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalling that although the Russian Federation ceased to be a High Contracting Party to the Convention on 16 September 2022, it remains bound by obligations under the Convention, including to implement judgments of the Court, in accordance with Article 58 of the Convention; recalling further that the Committee of Ministers continues to supervise the execution of the judgments and friendly settlements concerned (Resolution of 22 March 2022 of the Court and Resolution CM/Res(2022)3);
2. deeply deplored that the Russian authorities have ceased all communication with the Committee of Ministers concerning the execution of judgments; welcomed the Rule 9 submissions by NGOs, which constitute a vital source of information on the human rights situation in Russia, and encouraged them to continue their monitoring and fact-finding;
3. recalled that this group mainly concerns military operations of the Russian authorities in the Chechen Republic and neighbouring regions mostly in 1999-2006, including killings notably as a result of indiscriminate bombings and failures to properly organise safe passages for civilians, ill-treatment, disappearances, ineffective investigation thereof and the resulting mental suffering of the victims' relatives;
As regards individual measures
4. deploring once again the absence of any tangible progress, reiterated the obligation of the authorities to adopt all possible measures aimed at finding the missing persons and addressing the deficiencies in investigations, including with regard to killings of the civilians in the Staropromyslovskiy District of Grozny in January 2000, bombardment of Katyr Yurt on 4-7 February 2000, killings in Novye Aldy on 5 February 2000, and other tragic events at stake in the Khashiyev group of cases (outlined in document H/Exec(2022)11); and stressed once again the unconditional obligation of the authorities to ensure the payments of just satisfaction in all cases;
As regards general measures
5. deeply deplored further deterioration of the situation with the human rights in the Chechen Republic in general and the continuation of similar violations , as evidenced by the new cases considered in this group, and by other reliable sources, including reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation and of other international mechanisms, as well as the NGO submissions; reiterated that it is urgent to adopt all possible measures, including on regional level, to cease these violations, notably by ensuring zero tolerance to involvement of state agents in any unlawful actions, implementing necessary awareness-raising activities among the local law-enforcement agents, and ensuring full compliance with the human rights requirements and efficient application of respective sanctions in case of non-compliance;
6. reiterated specifically the authorities’ obligation to ensure that the Russian armed forces and law-enforcement agencies comply with the requirements of humanitarian law in their functioning, and prevent further similar violations, including killings of civilians, indiscriminate bombing and shelling, impossibility for civilians to safely flee the fighting, as well as to investigate as far as possible, including if appropriate through the parliamentarian inquiries or other non-judicial mechanisms, all alleged atrocities committed during such operations, and to identify and punish those responsible;
7. reiterated further the indication to the authorities to create an ad hoc humanitarian high-level mechanism in charge of search for the disappearances in the region, taking into account the principles developed by the international bodies and summarised in H/EXEC(2024)18;
8. reiterated that the authorities should consider measures to redress continued suffering of the families of the disappeared;
9. underlined the key importance of the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which provides a comprehensive legal framework for addressing enforced disappearances, and therefore the need for its signature and ratification by the Russian Federation and for the recognition of the competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CM/AS(2013)Rec1995-final), as well as the importance of co-operation by the Russian authorities with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), both in individual cases and in country visits.