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26 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 3 (2008)
The Russian Federation and Human Rights: How Should the Council of Europe Deal with the Problems Posed by Its Largest Member State

handle is hein.journals/nethqur41 and id is 3 raw text is: COLUMN* THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS How Should the Council of Europe Deal with the Problems Posed by Its Largest Member State? Chechnya - situated in the eastern part of the North Caucasus - remains the only place in Europe where people disappear or are killed on a daily basis as a result of armed conflict. Torture, illegal detention and extra-judicial executions are continuously taking place. Most cases are not effectively investigated by the authorities and the perpetrators are very rarely found, let alone convicted. These serious human rights violations are occurring in the Russian Federation, the largest Member State of the Council of Europe. The ratification of the European Convention of Human Rights provided the Russians with the opportunity to file an individual complaint with the Court in Strasbourg. Increasingly, individuals claiming to have fallen victim to the violations in Chechnya are indeed finding their way to the Court. Reports of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europel and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)2 show that this is not without risk. In several cases individuals using their right to complain have fallen victim to harassment, have disappeared or even been killed. Since the first judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in 2005,3 the number of cases in which the Court has ruled against Russia for grave violations of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) in Chechnya, has increased rapidly. These cases paint an alarming picture of gross human right violations committed both by the Russian Federation and by rebel groups in Chechnya. To date the Court ruled that in 29 cases Russia violated fundamental provisions such as the right to life (Article 2), the prohibition against inhuman treatment (Article 3) and the lack of an effective remedy (Article 13). Apart from this it should be mentioned that since 5 May Nicola Jagers and Leo Zwaak are both members of the editorial board of the NQHR. I See, inter alia, Doc. 10774, Report of Rapporteur Rudolph Bindig (Commission Legal Affairs and Human Rights) Human Rights Violations in the Chechen Republic: the Committee of Ministers' Responsibility vis-a-vis the Assembly's Concerns, 21 December 2005, para. 2.2.3. 2 See the public statement of Amnesty International,'Russian Federation: European Court of Human Rights Rulings on Bitiyeva and X v. Russia', 21 June 2007, Al Index EUR 46/0272007. 3 ECrtHR, Khashiyev and Akayeva vs Russia, 24 February 2005, Application Nos 57942/00 and 57945/00; and ECrtHR Isayeva, Yusupova and Bazayeva vs Russia, 24 February 2005, Application Nos 57947/00, 57948/00 and 57949/00. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 26/1, 3-7, 2008. @ Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Printed in the Netherlands. 3

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