For years, the victims of Russia’s counterterrorist operations and their families have sought justice through the only effective and legal channel, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Russian government loses roughly 95 percent of the cases that reach the court, the human rights watchdog of the Council of Europe. Russian cases made up nearly a third of the court’s case load last year, costing the Kremlin millions of euros in compensation for human rights violations.
Not surprisingly, the Kremlin views the European court as a thorn in its side — and not just a financial one. While stoically paying victims’ families to the last euro cent, the Russian government has ignored the court’s demands that authorities curb human rights abuses, fully investigate crimes and bring the culprits to justice. Noncompliance with the court could eventually cost the country its seat on the Council of Europe, but now the Kremlin has come up with a solution.
This month, the government announced a new bill that aims to create a venue for victims of counterterrorist operations or terrorist acts to seek compensation within the Russian justice system. The European court requires that plaintiffs exhaust all available domestic legal venues before submitting their cases in Strasbourg. But there are no guarantees so far that the Russian court would use the same criteria to accept cases or deliver the same compensation as its European counterpart. There are also concerns that victims would face longer delays and even more pressure from authorities to withdraw their cases.
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