CASE OF VAKHAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

FIRST SECTION

CASE OF VAKHAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Application no. 1758/04)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

29 October 2009

This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Vakhayeva and Others v. Russia,

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:

Christos Rozakis, President,

Nina Vajić,

Anatoly Kovler,

Dean Spielmann,

Sverre Erik Jebens,

Giorgio Malinverni,

George Nicolaou, judges,

and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 8 October 2009,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1. The case originated in an application (no. 1758/04) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention") by seven Russian nationals listed below ("the applicants"), on 14 November 2003.

2. The applicants, who had been granted legal aid, were represented by Mr D. Itslayev, a lawyer practising in Nazran. The Russian Government ("the Government") were represented by Mr P. Laptev, the former Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights and subsequently by their new Representative, Mr G Matyushkin.

3. The applicants alleged that their relative had disappeared after being detained by servicemen in Chechnya on 1 August 2000. They complained under Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13.

4. By a decision of 11 September 2008 the Court declared the application admissible.

5. The Chamber having decided, after consulting the parties, that no hearing on the merits was required (Rule 59 § 3 in fine), the parties replied in writing to each other's observations.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

6. The applicants are:

1. Ms Rebart (Rebat) Vakhayeva, born in 1945;

2. Ms Kheda Aydamirova, born in 1976;

3. Mr Adam Vakhayev, born in 1993;

4. Ms Petimat Vakhayeva, born in 1995;

5. Mr Akhmed Vakhayev, born in 1997;

6. Mr Akhyad Vakhayev, born in 1998;

7. Ms Khadizhat Vakhayeva, born in 2000.

The applicants are Russian nationals and live in Urus-Martan, the Chechen Republic.

7. The applicants are members of one family and are close relatives of Kazbek Vakhayev, born in 1975, who was apprehended by the police and has been missing since 13 August 2000. The first applicant is his mother, the second applicant is his wife and the third to seventh applicants are his children. The applicants live together in their house in Urus-Martan at 5, Nuradilova Street, where Kazbek Vakhayev also lived before his arrest.

8. Kazbek Vakhayev worked as a furniture maker before his arrest. According to the applicants, he had never been involved in the armed conflict in Chechnya and had no connections with the paramilitary.

A. Arrest and detention of Kazbek Vakhayev

1. The applicants' account

9. On 1 August 2000 the Urus-Martan Temporary Department of the Interior of the Chechen Republic Урус-Мартановский временный отдел внутренних дел Чеченской республики ("Urus-Martan VOVD") conducted a sweeping operation in the eastern part of the town. From early morning military forces cordoned off the eastern sector of the town, and officers from the Ministry of the Interior carried out a security raid.

10. During the raid a van belonging to the Urals police arrived at the Vakhayevs' house. The whole family was already waiting in the courtyard with their documents, ready to be checked. According to the applicants, the servicemen were wearing police uniforms and were armed. Without any introduction or the presentation of a warrant they started searching the house. No attesting witnesses were present and no official records were made of the search. The search did not yield any incriminating evidence...

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