Case "Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia": Sokorenko explained what the ECHR decision entails

The European Court of Human Rights issued an unprecedented decision in the case of the interstate claim of Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, recognizing that since 2014, the Russian Federation has systematically violated human rights in the occupied territories, committed executions, torture, illegal deportations, and attacked civilian infrastructure. The court separately emphasized that Russia's actions pose a threat to peaceful coexistence in Europe. This was stated by the Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights Affairs, Margarita Sokorenko, during an online briefing, as reported by UNN.

This is, without exaggeration, probably one of the most, if not the only, unprecedented ECHR decision to date. The President of the European Court read only the main part for 50 minutes, which in itself indicates how significant and important conclusions were voiced just by reading the operative part of the ECHR decision. So, today, the European Court, after examining our positions, which we submitted regarding the merits of Ukraine's complaints within the interstate claim of Ukraine and the Netherlands against the Russian Federation, issued a decision, indicating which complaints Ukraine proved, and which were recognized as violations committed by the Russian Federation.

She emphasized that this decision is unprecedented not only for Ukraine but also for the history of the Council of Europe itself, as the European Court, in announcing the decision, emphasized the nature and scale of violence to which Ukrainians are subjected due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

And besides, it clearly emphasized that the aggressive war waged by the Russian Federation is not just about human rights violations and the peaceful order in Europe, but that it is a threat and an attack on peaceful coexistence in Europe, and the European Court emphasized that Russia's actions are aimed at undermining the very foundations of democracy, which are at the core of the Council of Europe and its member states. In addition, the European Court recalled that this case includes four major proceedings. These are our complaints, which Ukraine has been filing since 2014 regarding human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014. The European Court also emphasized that the armed aggression began with Crimea. First, Russia seized and occupied Crimea, and after that, its aggression moved to the eastern regions.

According to her, the lawsuit also included Ukraine's 2014 statement regarding the abduction of Ukrainian orphan children from the occupied territories and their transfer to the Russian Federation. The third lawsuit was the Netherlands' lawsuit regarding the downing of flight MH17.

The fourth lawsuit is a large part of the Ukrainian proceedings regarding the full-scale invasion. And within this lawsuit, we proved to the European Court that the human rights violations that Ukraine has been observing and experiencing since 2014 have only intensified and increased in scale during the full-scale invasion. If you look at the decision itself, the European Court established that the Russian Federation, by indicating that its jurisdiction extends to all cases of human rights violations by the Russian Federation until the moment when the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights ceased to apply to Russia. But the violations established by the European Court, in particular, the European Court indicated that as a result of military attacks, there were violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention and Article 1 of the First Protocol in the period from spring 2014 to September 2022. So, until this last day, when the Convention ceased to apply to the Russian Federation, and the ECHR said that it had been provided with convincing evidence that refuted Russia's unsubstantiated claims that it had never attacked civilians or civilian infrastructure.

In addition, according to her, the ECHR clearly emphasized that after February 24, 2022, Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure and the civilian population intensified particularly strongly, and that Russia often used explosive weapons, cluster munitions, unguided missiles, and unguided bombs in civilian settlements. The European Court also established that Russia violated a number of rights regarding cities that were under siege, such as Mariupol, Izium, and Chernihiv.

The European Court also established that executions of both civilians and Ukrainian servicemen took place. And that this occurred in the occupied territories of Ukraine since spring 2014. Thus, the European Court emphasized that a systematic practice of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of civilians and prisoners of war who were and are in captivity was proven. In particular, it emphasized that sufficient evidence was provided that there are facts of rape and sexual violence. In addition, the European Court also indicated that Article 4, which prohibits forced labor, was violated. And they concerned our citizens, our civilians, and Ukrainian prisoners of war who were in captivity. Illegal detentions were confirmed. The European Court also very thoroughly considered our complaints regarding the illegal displacement and forced displacement of civilians from the occupied territories, the filtration measures that people had to undergo. And the ECHR also established that there was a violation in connection with the policy and measures taken by Russia to illegally export and displace our Ukrainian children from the occupied territories.

Violations regarding interference with freedom were also established, in particular, attacks and persecution of journalists, as well as all Ukrainian broadcasters in the occupied territories.

It is very important that the European Court also established that it has been proven that there is a policy of suppressing the Ukrainian language in schools in the occupied territories, and this policy has existed in the occupied territories since 2014, as well as ideological indoctrination of schoolchildren. And the European Court also clearly indicated that Russia failed to fulfill its obligation to investigate credible complaints and statements regarding human rights violations that occur in the temporarily occupied territories.

Recall

The European Court of Human Rights stated on Wednesday that Russia violated international law in Ukraine. This is the first time an international court has held Moscow accountable for human rights violations since the full-scale invasion in 2022.