The Russian Federation has not yet paid compensations based on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights of 31 January and 26 March 2019 to citizens affected as a result of collective deportations from Russia in 2006.
On 31 January 2019, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights heard the inter-state case "Georgia v. Russia" (I) on awarding compensation to deportees from Russia and ordered the Russian Federation to pay €10 million in favour of Georgian citizens. Given that the decision was rendered by the Grand Chamber of the European Court, it was final upon its publication. The Russian Federation was allocated a three-month deadline for the payment of the compensation imposed by the Court. The term expired on 30 April 2019, but Russia has not paid compensation yet.
In addition to the interstate application, Russia was also imposed to pay compensation to affected citizens for the collective expulsion within individual applications. In particular, the European Court ruled on 26 March 2019, that Russia was obliged to pay different amounts (2,000 euro and / or 10,000 to 15,000 Euros) for the victims, including eight clients of GYLA. The amount of the compensation for each applicant was determined individually based on the severity, intensity and duration of the violated rights.
The above decision was delivered by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice, which became final three months after its rendering on 26 June 2019. According to the judgment, the Russian Federation had to pay the imposed amount within three months after the entry of the court ruling into force. The term expired on 26 September 2019. However, Russia has so far not paid the GYLA’s clients despite the fact that the applicants provided their bank account details to relevant Russian authorities.
On 23-25 September 2019, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which oversees the enforcement of judgments rendered by the European Court of Justice, assessed the implementation of the individual measures imposed on Russia within the interstate case. The Committee of Ministers called on the Russian Federation to pay the compensation of 10 million Euros immediately. The case hearing is scheduled to be resumed in the Committee of Ministers in December 2019.
The judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are binding for the Member States. The Russian Federation, as a Member State, is obliged to comply with the final decision of the Court and to ensure its timely enforcement. In addition, along with the determination of violations of human rights against Georgian citizens, payment of compensation is important for the restoration of justice and the legal status of the victims.
Therefore, we call on the Russian Federation to:
- ensure without delay the payment of the compensation imposed within the interstate and individual cases together with any accrued interest;
To the Government of Georgia:
- Intensify talks with Council of Europe member states to call on the Russian Federation to timely enforce the judgments rendered into the deportation cases;
To the Council of Europe and its bodies:
- Call on the Russian Federation to timely pay the compensation;
- Adopt appropriate interim resolutions against Russia in the event of non-compliance of the latter with the Court’s decisions and carry out other measures within its mandate.