European rights court blames Russia for Chechen deaths

(PARIS) - The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ordered Russia to pay nearly 200,000 euros to the families of three Chechens who disappeared years ago and are presumed dead.

In all three cases, the European court attributed their deaths to Russian authorities.

The court ordered payment of more than 77,000 euros (105,000 dollars) in damages and expenses to the mother and sisters of Ramzan Guluyev, who was abducted in July 2002 by some 25 armed, Russian-speaking men, whom the court identified as state security.

He has not been heard of since.

The European court also ordered Moscow to pay more than 120,000 euros to parents of two other Chechens, Islam Dubayev and Roman Bersnukayev, both militia members who vanished after turning themselves over to Russian forces in 2000.

With no news since their disappearances, "the court concluded that the three men should be presumed dead and that their deaths could be attributed to the state," it said in its judgement.

It condemned Russia for violating the right to life and unacknowledged detention of the men along with inhumane treatment toward their families, among other abuses.

The court also criticised Moscow for not furnishing it with the investigation files of the disappearances.

Thursday's ruling is the latest condemnation of Russia from the rights court over the conflict in the southern region of Chechnya.

Predominantly Muslim Chechnya was the site of two bloody wars with the central government after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.