The European Court of Human Rights considers it proven that Russia has “systematically” violated human rights since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. There is evidence, for example, of mistreatment and abductions.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has convicted Russia of “systematic violations” of human rights following the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. The judges thus upheld a so-called interstate complaint by Ukraine. However, the ruling is unlikely to have much impact.
The court’s decision does not refer to the annexation of Crimea itself, but to the actions of Russian troops after the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula. Ukraine had accused Russia of, among other things, kidnappings, illegal detention in overcrowded prisons, mistreatment, and the suppression of the Ukrainian media and the Ukrainian language in schools.
The ECHR website also lists allegations of unlawful arrests and unjustified prosecution and conviction of persons with pro-Ukrainian views on the basis of fabricated charges as part of the complaint.
“A system of Violations of law”
The judges considered most of these allegations to be substantiated. There was sufficient evidence “to establish beyond doubt that the incidents were so numerous and interconnected that they constituted a pattern or system of violations,” the ECHR said.
Russia has thus violated numerous articles of the European Convention on Human Rights – such as the right to life, liberty and security, to fair trials, freedom of religion and the media, and the prohibition of ill-treatment, arbitrary punishment and discrimination.
It goes on to say that Russia abused criminal law to suppress the opposition in Crimea. Clergy who did not follow the line of the Russian Patriarchate were also harassed and intimidated, the ECHR ruled. This particularly affected Ukrainian Orthodox priests and Muslim imams.
The court also denounced the fact that there had been no investigation into such incidents, which showed “that these practices were officially tolerated by the Russian authorities”.
Russia excluded from Council of Europe in 2022
However, the ruling is unlikely to have any consequences for Russia. After the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Federation was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022. This means that it is no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, compliance with which is ensured by the ECHR.
But even after such an exclusion, the ECHR’s decisions apply with regard to human rights violations committed by a state before or up to six months after its exclusion. In the case of Russia, this deadline was therefore mid-September 2022. However, Russia has already announced that it will not recognize the court’s rulings.