Ukraine complaint against Russia partly admissible: ECHR

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday found “partly admissible” a complaint filed by Ukraine against Russia’s actions in Crimea.

In a statement, the ECHR said the decision to admit the case was approved by a majority and it will be followed by a judgment at a later date.

In the complaint, Ukraine accused Russia of being responsible for patterns of administrative practice of human rights violations in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in a move widely viewed as illegal by the international community.

"The Court identified the scope of the issue before it and held that what was to be decided was whether the alleged pattern of human rights violations by Russia in Crimea […] between 27 February 2014 and 26 August 2015, was admissible," the statement said.

“The events relating to the Maidan protests in Kyiv […] Crimea’s purported integration into the Russian Federation following the “referendum” held in Crimea in March 2014 were not relevant for the Court’s examination of the case,” it added.

Before reaching the decision, the court said, it took into account “in particular the size and strength of the increased Russian military presence in Crimea from January to March 2014.”

It went on to say that Ukraine’s accounts were consistent and coherent “to prove that the Russian troops had not been passive bystanders, but had been actively involved in the alleged events.”

The court also decided to give notice to the Russian government of the complaint regarding “transfer of convicts” from Crimea to correctional institutions on the territory of Russia, an issue raised by Ukraine in December 2018.

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