On July 9, the European Court of Human Rights announced its decision on the merits of the case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia. According to it, the Russian Federation was found guilty of numerous human rights violations that occurred in the occupied territories before and after February 24, 2022, and also emphasized that its actions were massive and systemic.
Why this decision can be called historic, what key aspects of it can be highlighted and what steps should be taken in the future so that the Russian Federation is held accountable for everything that has been done – Vladimir Yavorsky, program director of the Command Center for Civil Liberties, told Fakty ICTV about this.
Why the ECHR decision is historic
As the expert notes, the ECHR decision is truly historic, because it concerns the occupied territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions before and after February 24, 2022. That is, it includes both a full-scale invasion and records complaints about human rights violations by Russia in the period up to September 16, 2022 (termination of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe).
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— If earlier there were certain reports and statements about this, now this is the first court decision that clearly indicates several very important things, that it is the Russian Federation that has occupied our territories since 2014, that it is waging a war there, etc. And there are many factors that are confirmed by this decision, — the expert adds.
Thus, if before this decision there was a resolution only on annexed Crimea, now it also concerns the occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Moreover, the court not only confirmed the systemic and massive human rights violations committed by the Russian Federation since 2014 in the occupied territories of Ukraine and during the full-scale aggression, but also outlined a broader legal context, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine noted.
Key aspects of the ECHR decision
From a practical point of view, the ECHR decision has a truly powerful meaning. Thus, if earlier Russia could simply brush off accusations of crimes committed by it, which were pointed out and registered by Ukraine, now these facts will have legal confirmation. And, therefore, it will not be possible to simply say “we did not do this”.
The second important point is that Russia will now bear obligations for a certain list of crimes it has committed. This concerns the persecution of Ukrainian citizens, arrests of people in the occupied territories, the abduction of Ukrainian children and their illegal transfer to the Russian Federation, etc.
And the third aspect is the issue of compensation. That is, in all cases where facts of human rights violations are recognized, and there are thousands of them, the second decision will establish specific amounts of compensation, adds Vladimir Yavorsky.
So, since this is a court decision of an international court, the dispute regarding many actions that Russia is taking will disappear. Regarding filtering, regarding arresting civilians, regarding forcing people out of occupied territories, regarding propaganda through education, regarding banning the Ukrainian language, regarding torture, regarding murders and so on.
And another very important aspect of the ECHR decision is that it was Russia that was found responsible for the fact that it became possible to shoot down flight MH17 over Donbass using a Russian Buk air defense system.
What will be the mechanism for holding Russia accountable?
Of course, the ECHR decision is historic, but what should be the next steps to make the Russian Federation pay for its crimes?
As Vladimir Yavorsky notes, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which includes the heads of the Foreign Ministries of 46 member countries of this international organization, will then develop a program for implementing this decision.
“They must determine what exactly Russia must do, and they will demand that it do it,” the expert says.
After this, the European Court of Justice must determine financial compensation in its next decision.
– That is, how much Russia itself should pay, and this will already be an international debt. This is not a debt to Ukraine, this will be a debt to international organizations, so sooner or later Russia will be forced to pay, – the expert adds.
And the third direction is opening up the possibility for hundreds of thousands of people to file claims based on the ECHR decision.
— That is, there will be additional decisions that will provide for the return of property, compensation, payment for murder, torture, and the like. And sooner or later, the Russian Federation will have to pay for its crimes — since this is already a decision of an international body and the international debt of the Russian Federation, respectively. That is, it is a matter of time when this will happen, — the expert sums up.
Before this decision, there was only the Register of Losses, where the mechanism of compensation for crimes of the Russian Federation was not provided at all. Now, the scenario that each injured person will receive compensation is taking on more realistic forms. And this is important and is a truly historic moment.
