European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 69842/10
Petimat Khozhakhmetovna ALBAKOVA
against Russia
lodged on 17 November 2010

STATEMENT OF FACTS

THE FACTS

The applicant, Ms Petimat Khozhakhmetovna Albakova, is a Russian national who was born in 1956 and lives in Ordzhonikidzevskoye. She was represented before the Court by EHRAC/Memorial Human Rights Centre, a non-governmental organisation based in Moscow and London.

A.  The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

1.  Abduction of Batyr Albakov

On 10 July 2009 the applicant, her two daughters, her son Batyr Albakov and his wife were at the applicant’s flat. At about 5:30 a.m. four men who introduced themselves as the officers of the Nazran District Department of the Interior arrived to the flat to do a passport check. The officers were armed, some were wearing camouflage uniforms and some were wearing civilian clothes. They spoke Russian, Chechen and Ingush languages. The officers checked the passports of the applicant’s family members and further announced that they were taking Batyr Albakov to the police station to complete the ID check. At the time he was wearing black trousers and a black shirt with short sleeves and white stripes. The applicant was not allowed to accompany him.

The officers and Batyr Albakov left in two silver colour VAZ 2110 cars. The applicant’s neighbour Ms M. Galayeva witnessed their departure. Batyr Albakov was not seen alive after that.

On 21 July 2009 the applicant read on internet that her son had been shot dead by law-enforcement agents in the course of a counter-terrorist operation in the forest close to Arshty village in the Republic of Ingushetia. According to the website, Batyr Albakov was a member of an illegal armed group and was offering active armed resistance to the federal forces. It was claimed that a number of items including a Kalashnikov automatic rifle, a backpack containing clothes and the deceased’s passport were found at the scene.

On the same day Mr M. Albakov, the uncle of the deceased, identified Batyr Albakov’s body in the morgue in Nazran. The deceased was then dressed in a camouflage uniform.

On 22 July 2009 the deceased’s naked body wrapped in a cellophane bag was brought to the applicant’s flat. The applicant, one of her daughters, her son’s wife and some other relatives saw multiple injuries on his body which included a gunshot wound to his chest, stab wounds, fractured bones, burns and bruises. His left arm was partially severed. The applicant’s daughter took photos of Batyr Albakov’s body and injuries.

2.  Ensuing investigation into Batyr Albakov’s abduction

On 10 July 2009 the applicant orally applied to the Suzhenskiy District prosecutor’s office and the Suzhenskiy District department of the interior alleging that her son had been abducted by unidentified state agents. On the same day she asked the Ministry of the Interior of the Ingushetiya Republic and the Federal Security Service Department of the Ingushetiya Republic to provide her with the information about her son’s detention. In response the applicant was informed that her son had not been in custody of the said institutions and they had no information as to his whereabouts.

On 13 July 2009 the prosecutor’s office investigator questioned the applicant and her daughter Z. Albakova about the events of 10 July 2009.

On 24 July 2009 the applicant provided a statement to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ingushetiya Republic alleging that the law-enforcement agents had been implicated in her son’s abduction, torture and unlawful killing. Referring to the traces of the decomposition on his body, she considered that her son had been executed by the law-enforcement agents before 21 July 2009.

On 1 August 2009 the Sunzhenskiy District prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation against an unidentified person on the charges of an attempted killing of the law-enforcement agent, unlawful possession of firearms and participation in illegal armed groups. The criminal case-file was given number 09600099.

On 14 September 2009 the applicant again asked the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ingushetiya Republic to open a criminal investigation into the abduction and unlawful killing of her son by the law-enforcement agents.

On 24 September 2009 the applicant was notified that her application was added to criminal case no. 09600099.

On 1 December 2009 the investigator with the Sunzhenskiy District prosecutor’s office refused to institute criminal proceedings into the abduction of the deceased. The investigator concluded that Batyr Albakov had been released by the law-enforcement agents and that he had been a member of an illegal armed group who “had attempted on the life of law-enforcement officers” on 21 July 2009.

On 16 January 2010 the applicant appealed against the decision of 9 December 2009. On 29 March 2010 the Sunzhenskiy District Court of the Ingushetiya Republic dismissed the applicant’s allegations as unsubstantiated upholding the investigator’s findings of 1 December 2009. On 18 May 2010 the Supreme Court of the Ingushetiya Republic upheld the decision of 16 January 2010 on appeal.

On 12 October 2010 the applicant submitted the digital photos of Batyr Albakov’s body made earlier by his sister to an independent expert centre. The forensic medical experts concluded that all the injuries seen on the photos must have been caused ante mortem.

COMPLAINTS

Relying on Article 2 of the Convention, the applicant submits that there is strong evidence that state agents were implicated in her son’s abduction. She further complains that Russia has not complied with its positive obligation to protect her son’s life and alleges that the authorities failed to conduct an effective investigation into her son’s death.

The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that her son was subjected to ill-treatment while in custody and that the authorities failed to conduct an effective investigation in this respect.

The applicant alleges that her son was detained in violation of the guarantees enshrined in Article 5 of the Convention.

The applicant complains under Article 13 of the Convention that she did not have an effective remedy in respect of her complaints under Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1.  Has the right to life, as guaranteed by Article 2 of the Convention, been violated in respect of Batyr Albakov? Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, § 104, ECHR 2000-VII), was the investigation in the present case by the domestic authorities sufficient to meet their obligations to carry out an effective investigation, as required by Article 2 of the Convention?

2.  Was Batyr Albakov subjected to ill-treatment while in custody of the Russian law-enforcement agents following his apprehension in breach of Article 3 of the Convention? Having regard to the procedural obligations arising from Article 3 of the Convention, was there an investigation into the alleged instances of ill-treatment conducted by the domestic authorities? If so, was it sufficient to meet the criteria of an effective investigation?

3.  Was Batyr Albakov deprived of liberty within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention? If such detention took place, was it in compliance with the guarantees of Article 5 §§ 1 – 5 of the Convention?

4.  Have the applicants had at their disposal effective domestic remedies for the complaints under Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?

5.  The Government are invited to submit a copy of the entire investigation file in criminal case no. 09600099 instituted in relation to the abduction and killing of Batyr Albakov and the documents concerning his arrest and detention.