The European Court of Human Rights, in its Judgment, stated that there was “extensive evidence of regulatory measures applied in occupied areas intended to undermine Ukrainian ethnicity and history, including through the blocking of Ukrainian broadcasting, the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, the suppression of the Ukrainian language in schools and the indoctrination of Ukrainian schoolchildren.”
In its admissibility decision, the ECtHR found that starting from 11 May 2014, Russia exercised effective control over separate areas in eastern Ukraine via its military presence and its military, political and economic support to the armed groups on the ground.
Today’s Court’s ruling upholds that, having this level of control, Russia bears responsibility for a systematic violation of human rights, including the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and the prohibition of unlawful and arbitrary detentions, that have been taking place in occupied areas since 2014 and until 16 September 2022, when Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. The ruling also attributed the downing of the MH17 flight in July 2014, which resulted in the death of all 298 people onboard, to Russia. Furthermore, the case also includes complaints concerning Russian agents’ actions during the full-scale invasion that began on 24 February 2022.
The Judgment also addresses sexual violence committed during the war.
The ECtHR stated that “The Court is persuaded that sexual violence and rape was deployed in Ukraine following the February 2022 invasion as part of a military strategy to dehumanise, humiliate and break the morale of the Ukrainian population, as individuals and as a community, and to assert dominance over Ukrainian sovereign territory.”
Wayne Jordash KC, President at Global Rights Compliance, commented on the significance of the ruling:
“This decision is truly historic and immensely important because it opens the door to the processing of nearly 10,000 individual applications that Ukrainians have filed against Russia at the ECHR. These applications have been pending for years, waiting for this inter-state case to be resolved. The Court took a long time to get here, but what matters is that it has now recognised the overwhelming evidence of human rights violations committed — and still being committed — by Russia in Ukraine since 2014.”
This is a decision in the most extensive inter-state case in the Court’s history. More than 20 states and several international organisations joined the case as third parties.