CASE OF ABUBAKAROVA AND MIDALISHOVA v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 2 - Right to life (Article 2-1 - Life) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 2 - Right to life (Article 2-1 - Effective investigation) (Procedural aspect)
Alena Poláčková;Dmitry Dedov;Georgios A. Serghides;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom;Luis López Guerra;Pere Pastor Vilanova
5. The applicants were born in 1966 and 1957 respectively. They live in the village of Komsomolskoye in the Chechen Republic. The first applicant is the wife of Mr Shamkhan Abubakarov, who was born in 1963. The second applicant is the wife of Mr Badrudi Abubakarov, who was born in 1949. 6. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 7. At about 4.30 p.m. on 30 September 2002 brothers Shamkhan Abubakarov and Badrudi Abubakarov and their nephew Mr A.El. were travelling in a GAZ-3110 (“Volga”) vehicle on the road leading from the Staraya Sunzha settlement to the village of Berkat-Yurt in Chechnya. 8. At about 5 p.m. a convoy of three IFVs (БМП-2) was passing along the road. The applicants’ relatives drove to the side to let the IFVs pass. The Volga and a number of other cars were at the side of the road when one of the IVFs suddenly turned and drove over the Volga, and then drove off in the direction of Staraya Sunzha. All three passengers died on the spot. A number of residents of Berkat-Yurt witnessed the incident. 9. On the same day Sh., an operational search officer from the Grozny department of the interior (Районный отдел внутренних дел (РОВД)) (hereinafter “the ROVD”), reported the incident to the head of the police station, stating that a Volga had been driven over by an IFV carrying military servicemen. 10. The police questioned Mr Sh.A. He stated that his brothers Shamkhan Abubakarov and Badrudi Abubakarov and nephew Mr A.El. had been driving home from a funeral when their vehicle had been driven over by an IFV carrying military servicemen, who had fled the scene and gone to the military base in Khankala. 11. The police also questioned Mr I.A., who stated that he had been driving to Staraya Sunzha when he had seen a convoy of IFVs on the road and a Volga on the kerb letting it pass by. One of the IFVs had suddenly turned in the direction of the Volga, driving over it and killing all three passengers. It had then gone through the checkpoint in Staraya Sunzha. The witness and others present during the incident had immediately driven to the police station to report it. 12. The police examined the Volga, which had been left at the crime scene. Traces of blood and brain matter were found inside the damaged vehicle. No evidence was collected. 13. On 1 October 2002 the Grozny district prosecutor’s office instituted an investigation into the accident under Article 264 § 3 of the Criminal Code (breach of traffic regulations, causing death by negligence). The case file was given the number 56155. 14. It also ordered a post-mortem examination of Shamkhan Abubakarov, Badrudi Abubakarov and Mr A.El. On 8 October 2002 the experts concluded that their deaths had occurred as a result of the accident. 15. On 1 October 2002 the investigators questioned Mr B.S. and Mr I.S., both of whom stated that on 30 September 2002 they had been driving a GAZ-53 vehicle when they had seen three IFVs, one of which had had the serial number 171, violating traffic rules. It had driven over a Volga car and then left in the direction of Staraya Sunzha. They had immediately gone to the damaged vehicle and found three people dead inside. 16. On 8 October 2002 the investigators sent a request to military unit no. 20102 to be provided information on the provenance of IFV no. 171. No reply was given to that or any subsequent requests sent by the investigators. 17. On 24 November 2002 the supervising prosecutor ordered the investigators to take a number of steps, including questioning numerous eyewitnesses to the incident such as local residents and the law-enforcement officers who had been manning the checkpoints through which the IFVs had passed to flee the scene. 18. On 11 November or December 2002 the investigators questioned the head of the local administration, Mr Kh.D. who stated, amongst other things, that he had learnt of the incident shortly after it had happened. He had immediately gone to each of the checkpoints on the road between Staraya Sunzha and Berkat-Yurt. At the checkpoint manned by police officers from the Grozny district police station he had been told that, two minutes prior to his arrival, three IFVs had passed through and driven in the direction of Khankala, where the main military base of the federal forces was situated. He had gone to the military prosecutor’s office in Khankala, where he had been told that an investigator had already gone to the scene and established that two of the IFVs had had the serial numbers 171 and 153; that after the IFV had driven over the Volga, a serviceman had got out of one of the IFVs and checked that the car’s passengers were dead. The IFVs had then driven off. The witness also stated that on 2 or 3 October 2002 Mr A.E., who had worked as a driver at the Khankala military base, had told him that at about 5 p.m. on 30 September 2002 he had seen three IFVs of the 78th regiment driving at high speed into the base. 19. On 1 December 2002 the investigation was suspended on the grounds that the perpetrators had not been identified. The applicants were not informed. 20. On 28 May 2003 the ROVD replied to the applicants’ request for information, stating that the investigation had established that that at about 4.30 p.m. on 30 September 2002 an unidentified person driving an IFV had had a collision with a Volga being driven by Shamkhan Abubakarov and in which Badrudi Abubakarov had been a passenger. As a result of the accident, the driver and two passengers had died on the spot. The driver of the IFV had fled the scene. The document also stated that the material concerning the accident had been sent to the Khankala military prosecutor’s office. 21. On an unspecified date prior to 5 June 2006 the investigation was resumed. The applicants were not informed. 22. On an unspecified date between June and October 2006 the investigation was suspended again. The applicants were not informed. 23. On 25 October 2006 the deputy district prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the proceedings as unlawful and ordered that the investigation be resumed and the investigators take a number of steps, including identifying the owners of IFV nos. 171 and 153 and carrying out the orders of 1 October 2002 (see paragraph 14 above). 24. On 30 October 2006 the applicants were granted victim status in the criminal proceedings. 25. On various dates in October and November 2006 the investigators questioned a number of residents of Berkat-Yurt, all of whom stated that they had arrived at the scene shortly after the incident and that, according to eyewitnesses, the Volga had been driven over by a military IFV. 26. On 16 November 2006 the investigators questioned Mr A.D., who stated that at about 4 p.m. on 30 September 2002 he had seen a military convoy on the road between Staraya Sunzha and Berkat-Yurt and a Volga at the side of the road letting the convoy pass by. One of the IFVs had suddenly driven off the road and over the Volga. The IFV had then left in the direction of Khankala. 27. On 25 November 2006 the investigation was suspended again. 28. On 4 July 2007 the Grozny District Court of the Chechen Republic allowed the applicants’ complaint against the decision to suspend the investigation. The court stated that between the opening of the investigation on 1 October 2002 and its suspension on 1 December 2002 the investigators had failed to take the necessary steps to identify the perpetrators, limiting themselves to sending two unspecified requests for information to the military authorities, even though it was clear from the case material that after causing the accident the IFVs had entered the Khankala military base. Despite the supervising prosecutor’s instructions given on 25 October 2006, the investigators had only resent two requests for information to the military authorities and had again suspended the investigation on 25 November 2006, as they had received no reply. The court overruled that decision and instructed that the proceedings be resumed. 29. On 14 July 2007 the supervising prosecutor resumed the investigation, deciding that it had been suspended unlawfully. The investigators were ordered to take a number of steps, including sending new requests to the military authorities concerning the possible provenance of IFV nos. 171 and 153. 30. On unspecified dates in July 2007 the investigators questioned two residents of Berkat-Yurt, both of whom stated that they had learnt of the incident from their fellow villagers. 31. On 15 August 2007 the investigation was suspended again. On an unspecified date prior to May 2011 the case was transferred to the Chechnya Investigations Committee. The proceedings are still pending. 32. The Government did not dispute the facts as presented by the applicants. 33. At the Court’s request, the Government furnished copies of the entire investigation file in criminal case no. 56155, running to ninety-six pages.