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premises | 41. On various dates in June 2011 the investigators forwarded requests to a number of detention centres in Chechnya and other regions of the Russian Federation, asking whether the applicant’s son had been detained on their |
Shatoy | 123. On the same date, 27 July 2002, the investigators questioned the second applicant, who stated, in particular, that a few days after the abduction she had seen the abductors’ UAZ vehicle entering the premises of the |
SIZO-1 | 32. According to the applicant, he was beaten by the investigating officers immediately after his arrest and was ill-treated on several occasions thereafter. He also alleged that on an unspecified date in 2000 during his detention in |
Vedeno | 62. According to the Government, on unspecified dates the investigators requested information, inter alia, about special operations conducted in the area between 1 and 5 February 2003 and officers who had served in the |
Staropromyslovskiy | 74. In May and June 2002 the military prosecutor in Budennovsk, Stavropol region, reviewed the operation reports, orders and log book of the 205th motor rifle brigade (205 омсбр) for the period between December 1999 and February 2000 and concluded that they contained no information relevant to the investigation of the criminal case. Two officers of that military unit stated that their unit had been engaged in the |
Andijan | 79. In the report of 11 May 2006, entitled “Uzbekistan: Andijan – impunity must not prevail”, Amnesty International claimed:
“Scores of people suspected of involvement in the Andijan events have been sentenced to long terms, in vast majority in closed secret trials, in violation of international fair trial standards. Most had been held incommunicado for several months in pre-trial detention...
The Uzbek authorities have also continued to actively – and often successfully – seek the extradition of members or suspected members of banned Islamic parties or movements, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Akramia, whom they accuse of participation in the |
Urus-Martan | 21. On 14 August 2000 the applicants learned that two more detainees, Yusup Satabayev (Satabayeva v. Russia, application no. 21486/06) and Ch., had gone missing from the Urus-Martan VOVD at the same time as Kazbek Vakhayev. Yusup Satabayev had been in detention since 23 February 2000 on suspicion of involvement in illegal paramilitary groups; from the beginning of August he had been held in the Urus-Martan VOVD. According to the applicants, Ch. had been arrested during the sweeping operation on the |
Cyprus | 16. On 18 January 1995 the applicant was visited at the school of Ayia Triada by representatives of Doctors of the World, to whom she showed the bruises she had on her legs, hands and head. In its relevant parts, the report of Doctors of the World reads as follows:
“Although [Eleni Foka] knew we were coming and had agreed to meet us, nevertheless when she first saw us she became very nervous. Her respiration increased, and she seemed to have trouble breathing. We reassured her that we had come from ... Doctors of the World but it still took her about 10 minutes to be able to speak normally. The first thing she did, somewhat frantically, was to show us the bruises up and down her legs which she received, she says, as a result of being beaten by the police. At the time of our visit, she said the beating had occurred over one week ago. She also said the police were from the neighbouring town of Jalousa, only two kilometres away from Sipahi. She claims that the reason she was beaten is that she had tried to bring across the border some textbooks for the children and some religious crosses, after having visited relatives [on] the Greek side of |
Transdniestrian | 20. In Catan and Others v. the Republic of Moldova and Russia ([GC], nos. 43370/04, 8252/05 and 18454/06, §§ 64-73, ECHR 2012 (extracts)) the Court summarised the content of various reports by intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations concerning the situation in the |
premises | 13. According to four affidavits, the first of which was drawn up by Mr Hristo Evtimov and Ms Lilia Evtimova, and the rest by witnesses asked by the applicants to describe the situation, the club had forty‑six computers and two vending machines. It was open twenty‑four hours a day, seven days a week. The services it offered were chiefly computer gaming and Internet surfing. The club’s clients, mostly teenagers and young adults, often gathered in front of the building, chatting loudly and shouting, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes and allegedly even narcotic drugs. They would often break the door of the building and enter the passageway, where they drank and smoked. The noise and the vibrations generated by them, both while inside the club and while entering or leaving the |
the Southern Orekhovo-Borisovo District | 11. The applicant entered the territory of the Russian Federation in 2004 and worked on a market in Moscow. On 4 October 2006 the market was raided by a special unit of the police and the applicant, together with around twenty other Georgian nationals, was arrested. The applicant was brought to the Department of the Interior in |
Eastern Mediterranean | 91. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights visited Cyprus in June 2003 and in his subsequent report of 12 February 2004, he referred to issues in Cyprus regarding trafficking of women. The report noted, inter alia, that:
“29. It is not at all difficult to understand how Cyprus, given its remarkable economic and tourist development, has come to be a major destination for this traffic in the |
Pelendri | 8. On 25 July 1997 a notice of compulsory acquisition of the applicant's property was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus (administrative act no. 908). The compulsory acquisition was for the purpose of the construction, improvement, alignment and surfacing of a public road. The notice stated as follows:
“Notification is hereby given that the immovable property described in the Schedule set out below is essential for the following purpose of public benefit, namely for the creation and development of roads in the Republic and its compulsory acquisition is imperative for the following reasons, namely the construction, improvement, alignment and surfacing of the road.”
On the same day a requisition order was issued under the Requisition of Property Law of 1962 (as amended) and published in the Official Gazette (no. 930):
“Because the immovable property described in the Schedule set out below ... is essential for the following purposes of public benefit, namely for the creation and development of public roads in the Republic or for any of these purposes and its requisition is imperative for the following reasons, namely the construction, improvement, alignment and surfacing of the |
the Staropromyslovskiy District of | 54. On 9 July 2004 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as unsubstantiated and premature and ordered the investigators to resume it and take a number of steps, such as identifying the servicemen from military unit no. 3737 who had participated in the military operation in |
Makhkety | 27. On 14 February 2003 the first applicant was granted victim status in criminal case no. 24012. The decision stated, inter alia, the following:
“...on 4 February 2003, during a special operation in |
the Northern Caucasus | 56. On 15 December 1999 the applicant gave detailed submissions to an investigator from the Ingushetia prosecutor's office relating the arrest and detention of his brother, as described above. In addition, he submitted that on 3 April 1999 his brother had told him in great detail what had happened on the night of 24 to 25 February 1999 and named other persons who had been detained with him and questioned by the relatives of Magomed K. He also allegedly told him that he had been taken to several detention centres in |
premises | 23. Against this background, the High Court concluded that the City Court’s procedure had suffered from no defects. Its decision of 22 July 2011 had been based on a correct approach to the handling of the material gathered at the applicant’s |
premises | 106. Between September 2009 and September 2010 the investigators asked various district investigations departments, the various police departments in Chechnya, detention centres and hospitals in the North Caucasus and the nearby regions of southern Russia whether they had discovered or stored the body of Abdul-Yazit Askhabov, whether they had initiated any criminal proceedings against him and whether he had been arrested by their officers or detained on their |
Narimanov | 20. The applicant was arrested at around noon on 27 September 2008. The relevant part of the official record of the applicant’s arrest (cinayət törətmiş şəxsin tutulması barədə protokol) of 27 September 2008 reads as follows:
“... At around noon on 27 September 2008, Nagiyev Asif Najaf oglu [the applicant], whose identity was established later, born on ... and in ... was arrested in the district of |
the Severo-Evensk District | 11. On 7 July 2006 the Magadan Regional Police Department conducted an inquiry in response to the Government's request in connection with the present application pending at the time before the Court. In particular, Colonel S. in charge of the inquiry stated the following in his report:
“The inquiry confirms the truthfulness of the [applicant's] allegations about the lack of proper living conditions in the temporary detention facility at the [police station] in |
Suvorivskyy | 10. According to the applicant, he was seriously ill-treated after his arrest and his account of subsequent events is as follows. In his application form he submitted that once the police had seen him regain consciousness, at about 5 a.m., they had taken him to the |
the North Caucasus Region | 58. On 28 May 2007 the district prosecutor's office granted the fourth applicant's complaint in the part concerning requests for information but refused to resume the investigation. The decision read, in so far as relevant, as follows:
“At about 1 p.m. on 15 March 2001 in the course of the operation carried out by the special unit in the village of Duba-Yurt of the Shali District of the Chechen Republic unidentified persons wearing camouflage uniforms and masks arrested Mr Abdurzakov, Mr Dudayev, Mr Tatayev and Mr Vakayev and then drove them away in two APCs and a UAZ vehicle to an unknown destination.
...
Having examined [the fourth applicant's] request, the investigative authorities have reached the conclusion that it should be granted in the part regarding the sending of requests to the Altay Region and to the Prosecutor's Office of the United Group Alignment, as well as the sending of a request for the establishment of the identity of the serviceman of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of the Interior in |
the Urus-Martan District | 30. On 23 January 2004 the head of the ROVD informed the applicant that they had opened an operational-search file for the search for her son and that they had sent an unspecified number of requests for information to law-enforcement agencies in |
Hindu Kush | 28. Following his force-feeding, the applicant became extremely ill and suffered very severe pain. A doctor visited his cell in the middle of the night and administered medication, but he remained bedridden for several days. Around that time, the applicant felt what he believed to be a minor earthquake. In this connection, the applicant submitted the “List of significant earthquakes of the world in 2004”, issued by the US Geological Survey on 6 October 2005. According to this document, there was one earthquake on 5 April 2004 in the |
the Urus-Martan District | 6. The applicants are:
1) Ms Tabarka Tagirovna Israilova[1], born in 1953;
2) Mr Shirvan Mikhaylovich Israilov, born in 1940;
3) Mr Tagir Atiyevich Gikhayev, born in 1924;
4) Ms Avlaz Gikhayeva[2], born in 1929;
5) Mr Alikhan Shirvanovich Israilov[3], born in 1976;
6) Ms Petimat Shirvanovna Israilova, born in 1975;
7) Mr Magomed Shirvaniyevich Israilov [4], born in 1993;
8) Ms Roza Abdulkhamidovna Dovtayeva, born in 1951;
9) Ms Fatima Saidselimovna Ismailova, born in 1970;
10) Ms Aminat Adlanovna Dovtayeva, born in 2000;
11) Ms Iman Adlanovna Dovtayeva, born in 1995;
12) Mr Magomed-Khasan Adlanovich Dovtayev, born in 1993;
13) Mr Aslan Dzhunaidovich Dovtayev[5];
14) Ms Roza Dzhunidovna Aydamirova[6], born in 1963;
15) Ms Raisa Dzhunaidovna Dovtayeva, born in 1965; and
16) Ms Madina Dzhunidovna Talkhigova[7], born in 1979.
The applicants live in the villages of Gekhi and Kulary, in |
the Bryansk Region | 49. In a letter of 18 August 2005 the applicant informed his counsel that the administration of remand prison IZ-32/1 was aware of the contents of the written statements he had addressed to the Deputy Prosecutor of |
North Caucasus | 65. The investigation requested information on Ruslan Kasumov’s abduction from various law enforcement agencies. The branches of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Department of the Federal Security Service of the Chechen Republic and the prosecutors’ offices of different districts and towns of the Chechen Republic replied that they had not arrested Ruslan Kasumov and that no special operations had been carried out in the village of Pervomayskaya on the night of 3 February 2003. Ruslan Kasumov had not been kept in any remand prisons or temporary detention facilities in the |
Sizo | 64. The relevant parts of the report of the CPT on its visit to Moldova between 27 and 30 November 2000 (CPT/Inf (2002) 35) read as follows.
“40. At the outset of the visit, the authorities of the Transnistrian region provided the delegation with detailed information on the five penitentiary establishments currently in service in the region.
In the time available, the delegation was not in a position to make a thorough examination of the whole of the penitentiary system. However, it was able to make an assessment of the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in Prison No. 1, at Glinoe, Colony No. 2, at Tiraspol, and the SIZO (i.e. pre-trial) section of Colony No. 3, again at Tiraspol. 41. As the authorities are certainly already aware, the situation in the establishments visited by the delegation leaves a great deal to be desired, in particular in Prison No. 1. The CPT will examine various specific areas of concern in subsequent sections of this report. However, at the outset, the Committee wishes to highlight what is perhaps the principal obstacle to progress, namely the high number of persons who are imprisoned and the resultant overcrowding. 42. According to the information provided by the authorities, there are approximately 3,500 prisoners in the region’s penitentiary establishments i.e. an incarceration rate of some 450 persons per 100,000 of the population. The number of inmates in the three establishments visited was within or, in the case of Prison No 1, just slightly over their official capacities. Nevertheless, the delegation found that in fact the establishments were severely overcrowded.
The situation was at its most serious in Prison No 1. The cells for pre-trial prisoners offered rarely more – and sometimes less – than 1 m² of living space per prisoner, and the number of prisoners often exceeded the number of beds. These deplorable conditions were frequently made worse by poor ventilation, insufficient access to natural light and inadequate sanitary facilities. Similar, albeit slightly better, conditions were also observed in the |
Svajonių street | 9. On 12 February 2002 the Supreme Administrative Court quashed the decision and granted the applicant’s action. On the basis of topographic plans provided by the local authorities the court found that the disputed plot of land was situated adjacent to the buildings that belonged to the applicant. The court noted that the documents concerning the return in natura of that plot had been prepared before the Government ruling no. 239 was adopted. Nevertheless, that ruling merely noted that 13,990 hectares of land constituted forests of national importance; the boundaries of those plots had not been marked. For the appellate court, there were no factual data to support the claim that the disputed 0.33 hectares of land were in a forest of national importance. The court also noted that by a letter of 23 March 2001 the Vilnius local authority had confirmed that the boundaries of forests of national importance in Valakupiai neighbourhood had not [yet] been established. Lastly, and as it had been confirmed by the Vilnius local authority, there were no other obstacles to return the plot in natura.
The appellate court thus ordered the Vilnius local authority to restore the applicant’s rights to “the 0.33 hectares of land adjacent to the house no. 43 in |
Urus-Martan | 78. In a letter of 10 August 2004 the military prosecutor’s office of the United Group Alignment confirmed, in reply to Mr Khamzayev’s complaint of 20 April 2004, that the criminal proceedings concerning the attack of 19 October 1999 on |
the Moscow North-Western District | 18. In response to one of the complaints of the applicant’s parents’, on 8 December 2000 a prosecutor from the Feodosiya Prosecutor’s office initiated administrative proceedings regarding the events of 3 November 2000 against the Ukrainian officials involved. The decision stated that:
“... On 3 November 2000 police officers from the Moscow department of criminal investigations arrived at the town of Feodosiya with a warrant to carry out a search at [the applicant’s home address], this decision having been authorised by [a] prosecutor from |
the Urus-Martan District | 37. On 6 August 2004 the Urus-Martan Town Court (“the town court”) examined the first applicant’s complaint concerning the suspension of the investigation into her son’s kidnapping. It noted that the investigators had taken certain measures to resolve the crime. In particular, they had questioned witnesses and sent requests to law-enforcement agencies. The department of the Federal Security Service of the Urus-Martan District, the military commander’s office, the department of the interior and some other law-enforcement agencies had replied that their officers had not detained Adnan Akhmadov. The investigators had tried to establish which State agency had owned an armoured intelligence vehicle (“AIV”, «боевая разведывательно-дозорная машина», БРДМ) and a Ural vehicle. Nevertheless, the town court found that the investigators had not taken all the measures indicated by the prosecutor’s office of the Chechen Republic in a decision of 13 April 2004. In particular, they had not questioned the former head of the district department of the FSB and the former military commander of |
Black Sea | 7. On 30 June 1993 a private company owned and represented by the applicant bought a campsite by public auction from Federal Coop Tulcea, a State-owned company. The campsite was located in the village of Jurilovca on the |
the Far-Northern Region | 5. On 11 July 2003 the Neryungri Town Court accepted the applicant's claim against the Government of the Russian Federation and awarded her 72,967 Russian roubles (RUR, approximately 2,110 euros) in compensation for a special-purpose settlement order by the terms of which the Government was to provide her with a car in exchange for payments extracted from the applicant's salary and benefits related to her employment in |
premises | 15. On an unspecified date in July 2011 the applicant’s wife, Ms L. Dzh., and the wife of Tamerlan Suleymanov, Ms E.A., went to Yalkhoy-Mokhk and spoke with local residents. They were told that there was a building belonging to the Kurchaloy ROVD on the southern outskirts of the village. When the applicant’s relatives went there, they saw that the building did not have any signs indicating that it belonged to the ROVD; it was surrounded by a brick fence with a barrier gate. A man in police uniform came out and identified himself as the duty officer of the village police department. The women asked him about Tamerlan. The officer told them that he had no information about their relative and that they did not have detention cells on the |
the Elbrusskiy district | 53. Between 10 and 14 December 2004 the investigators questioned the UBOP officers M.G. and Z.Sh., both of whom gave similar statements to the effect that at the end of September 2004 they had been asked by relatives and friends of Rasul Tsakoyev’s about his possible whereabouts on their unit’s premises. They had checked some offices, but had not found him. In addition, they stated that at the material time officer K., like a number of other officers, had work in |
Northern Iraq | 74. The Government submitted a copy of a letter dated 5 May 2009 which the Civil Registry and Migration Department had addressed to the applicant, informing him that following the negative decision of the Reviewing Authority and the expiry of his temporary residence permit, he was requested to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 78. In his application form to the Court the applicant claims that on 20 March 2005, while he was serving in the Syrian army, he was arrested and taken into detention by the Syrian authorities along with other Kurds because of Nowruz (the Iranian New Year, Nowruz or Newroz marks the first day of spring or Equinox and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar). He was tortured for ten days along with his co-detainees. They were put into a car tyre and were subjected to bastinado. They were accused of conspiring against the State. Military proceedings were brought against him but after completion of his military service the charges were dropped. During this time the military police collected information on him and his friends and he was entered on a database as a dangerous individual. He was arrested again on 21 March 2006 because he attended the Nowruz celebrations and was a member of Yekiti party. He was detained for a week and was released after bribing the District Officer. He was then re-arrested on 15 August 2006 at his house after attending a Yekiti party meeting. He was released after bribing the same official. He then decided to leave Syria and managed to obtain a Turkish visa after bribing a Syrian security official working at the Turkish embassy. 80. He applied for asylum on 25 August 2006. He claimed that he had left Syria because as a Kurd he had been subjected to discrimination. Kurds were persecuted and did not enjoy any rights. He had therefore left for fear of his life. 81. The Asylum Service held an interview with him on 27 February 2009. The applicant claimed, inter alia, that he was a follower/supporter of the Yekiti Party, he had left Syria due to the injustice that Kurds suffered, and in particular, although he had a passport he had no other rights and he could not buy a house or land or work. He claimed that he was known to the Syrian authorities and he had been taken at the police station and beaten up on several occasions. He had been arrested and detained on a number of occasions. In particular, in 2005 he had been arrested and detained for four or five days for participating in the Nowruz festivities. He had been arrested on another occasion for problems he had in the army. In May 2006 he was detained for a week and in August 2006 for four days. The latter two times he had been released after paying a sum of money. He also stated that he was not wanted by the authorities and no other member of his family had ever been arrested. He claimed that he feared arrest if returned to Syria. 82. Subsequently, the Asylum Service called the applicant for a second interview and asked him to provide any documents he had concerning his application. The second interview was held on 10 April 2009. In this the applicant claimed, inter alia, that certain members of his family worked and that although the job market was not good, he would be able to work if he managed to find something. The applicant stated that he had been arrested on 20/21 March 2005 when he was in the army following a dispute with another soldier on 21 March 2006 for participating in the Nowruz festivities, and on 25 May 2006 and 2 August 2008 when demonstrations took place even though he was not involved. He was not, however, wanted by the authorities nor did he have any problems by reason of the fact that he was a follower of the Yekiti party. 83. His application was dismissed on 13 May 2009 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It therefore held that his asylum application had not been substantiated. In particular, the Asylum Service pointed out that during his interview he had claimed that he had left Syria for two reasons: because of his Kurdish origin he could not work and buy a house or land and secondly due to his arrests by the Syrian authorities. With regard to the first claim, they noted that he had not substantiated that he had been subjected to any form of discrimination due to his origin. As regards the arrests the applicant’s allegations remained unfounded as he had not given any specific answers to questions that had been put to him. Furthermore, during the interview the Asylum Service had spotted a number of significant untruths/falsehoods concerning his claim. 86. The Reviewing Authority observed that the applicant had not been subjected to persecution and had claimed that he was not wanted by the Syrian authorities. In its decision it observed that the applicant’s claims had not been credible and had been vague and unsubstantiated. Although he claimed that he could not buy a house or land, he then stated that his parents owned a house which they lived in. Further, although he initially claimed that he could not work due to the fact that he was Kurdish he then stated that his family worked and he also was able to. The information he gave concerning his arrest and reasons was equally general and vague. He was not in a position to give specific replies to questions given concerning these matters. The Reviewing Authority observed that the applicant had not been able to reply satisfactorily and with precision to certain questions and give information concerning his claims. 87. In conclusion, the Reviewing Authority held that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. 88. The applicant submitted that he did not lodge a recourse against this decision as he could not afford to do so and at that time no legal aid was granted in such cases. 90. In his application form to the Court the applicant claimed that he and his family are members of the Azadi Kurdish party in Syria which was banned by the authorities. In early September 2006 the applicant was driving his motorbike in his village carrying Azadi party papers. The civil police in Aleppo ordered him to stop but he fled as he was scared that they would find the papers. The police pursued him but he managed to escape. The next day the police went to his house. The same day he got a visa on his passport. 93. The Asylum Service, however, discontinued the examination of his application and closed his file on 3 April 2009 by virtue of section 16A (1) (c) of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 (see paragraph 236 below) as the applicant had not come to the interview which had been fixed for 27 March 2009 despite having received the letter requesting him to attend. It was noted in the file that the letter had been sent to him by double registered mail and there was indication he had received it. It was also noted that the applicant, on 19 March 2009, had confirmed on the telephone after receiving a call by the Asylum Service that he would come to the interview. Despite this he had not shown up. Lastly, there was no indication that the applicant had departed from the country. 95. The applicant submitted that he never received a letter asking him to attend an interview and that he had not received notification of the decision of the Asylum Service to close his file. He was subsequently informed of the closure of his file but he did not appeal against the decision as he did not know the procedure to follow and the steps to take so he could appeal against it. He was also scared to approach the authorities. 96. In the copies of the records of the Civil Registry and Migration Department it was noted on 3 March 2010 that in accordance with the instructions of the Minister of the Interior given on 9 February 2010, if the applicant was traced, the possibility of granting him a special residence permit should be examined before deporting him. Deportation should take place only if the applicant was involved in illegal activities. 99. In his application form to the Court the applicant stated that on 13 March 2004 he participated in a demonstration in his village concerning the Qamishli uprising. He had a camera and was taking photographs of the event when the civil police arrested him. He was blindfolded, placed in a police vehicle and transferred to the central detention centre of the village. There he was continuously tortured and ill-treated for one month. After his release, he was obliged to report to the police every two days. On 2 January 2005, nine months after his release, the applicant decided to leave Syria as he was no longer able to handle the feeling of insecurity. He applied to get a passport from the authorities but this was refused. He succeeded in getting one after bribing officials. 103. His application was dismissed on 8 July 2008 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It noted that no form of discrimination or persecution transpired from the applicant’s claims. There had been discrepancies between his application and the allegations made during his interview, which undermined his credibility. It held that the applicant’s claims and his alleged fear of persecution on return to Syria were not credible. 106. The Reviewing Authority noted that there were serious discrepancies between what he stated in his asylum application form and during his interview. For example, in his application he stated that he had left Syria because he was Kurdish and he had problems with the Syrian authorities. During the interview he had alleged that he had not left Syria for political reasons but because his family had reached an agreement with another family to marry against his wishes. The applicant had also claimed that he had to move about in the country in order to avoid being caught by the authorities but then stated that he did not face any serious problems. Further, he initially claimed during the interview that even though he had signed his application form he did not know the contents as this had been filled in by another person. He subsequently, stated, however, that the contents were of a political nature and that he had told the person filling in the form to write whatever he wanted. This undermined the applicant’s credibility. 107. The Reviewing Authority concluded that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. The letter of notification addressed to the applicant by the Reviewing Authority dated 29 September 2008 stated that its decision was subject to adjudication before the Supreme Court within seventy-five days from the date he was informed of the decision. 108. The applicant submitted that he did not lodge a recourse against the Reviewing Authority’s decision as he did not know he had the right to do so. 109. The Government submitted a copy of a letter dated 24 March 2009 which the Civil Registry and Migration Department had addressed to the applicant, informing him that following the negative decision of the Reviewing Authority as well as the expiry of his temporary residence permit, he was requested to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 112. In his application form to the Court the applicant claimed that on 20 March 2007 he lit a fire with some friends to celebrate Nowruz. When the police came he managed to flee but his friends were arrested. He later found out from his family that the police were looking for him. He left Syria on 29 September 2007 through the border with Turkey after the taxi driver bribed the officials. 114. He applied for asylum on 7 November 2007. He claimed that he had left Syria because he had participated in a demonstration concerning Kurdish rights and that for this reason he was sought after by the Syrian authorities. 115. The Asylum Service held an interview with him on 4 November 2008. The applicant claimed, that following the demonstration the authorities had asked certain of the persons that had been arrested information about him. He had left Syria for this reason. He also claimed that if he returned to Syria he might not be allowed entry or he ran the risk of being arrested. Furthermore, he stated that he had never been detained, harassed or persecuted by the Syrian authorities and that he or his family did not belong to any, inter alia, political, religious or military group/organisation. 116. His application was dismissed on 23 April 2009 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 and the 1951 Geneva Convention (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It observed that the applicant’s allegations were general and vague. In particular, it noted that the applicant had failed to give any information/details about the demonstration he had allegedly participated in despite being asked during the interview. It concluded that his allegations had been unfounded and had not been credible. 119. The Reviewing Authority observed that the applicant had admitted that he had not been subjected to any harassment or persecution. His allegations concerning his fears of arrest were vague and general. He was not in a position to specify when and which demonstration he had taken part despite being asked specific questions on this during the interview. Furthermore, he had been able to leave the country legally without any problems. There was no indication that the Syrian authorities were searching for him. 120. In conclusion, the Reviewing Authority held that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. 121. The applicant submitted that he did not lodge a recourse against this decision as he was advised by a lawyer that it would be a waste of time and effort as the Supreme Court dismissed all such cases. 123. In his application form to the Court the applicant claimed that when he was in the Syrian army he was detained for forty days on the basis of his ethnic identity. During that period he was subjected to ill-treatment such as standing still under the sun for long periods. There were also other Kurds detained with the applicant and they were all told that this was a preparation for what was going to happen to all the Kurds in the future. The applicant was also involved in cultural (folklore) activities of the Yekiti party. Participation in cultural groups such as dance, drama or folkloric groups that wear Kurdish traditional dress and participate in funerals or other social rites was considered by the authorities to be political and thus repressed. The Syrian government and authorities tended to politicise ordinary people who participated in these activities and therefore they ran a risk of being criminalised and exposed to persecution by the authorities. 128. His application was dismissed on 8 August 2008 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 and the 1951 Geneva Convention (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It noted that the applicant, during the interview, had claimed that he had left Syria due to a long standing property dispute between his family and another family. Although the Asylum Service did not question the credibility of his allegations concerning the existence of this dispute as such it did not find the applicant’s claims as to his involvement in this dispute credible and that his departure from Syria was justified on this ground. The statements made in his interview were contradictory and he had stated that his life was not in danger. Eventually, the applicant had admitted that he had left Syria for financial reasons and faced no danger if he returned. 131. The Reviewing Authority observed that the applicant’s account of facts concerning the alleged family dispute were contradictory. Furthermore, in his asylum application form he had stated that he his life was not in danger and that he had left Syria lawfully and for financial reasons. It had also become clear during the interview that the applicant had not left Syria for the reasons he had initially claimed but for financial reasons; he could not find work with an adequate salary. He was therefore using the asylum procedure to extend his stay in Cyprus. New claims put forward by the applicant in his appeal that he was wanted by the Syrian authorities because he had taken part in the Nowruz celebrations and that had been detained for three months had not been substantiated and had not been raised by the applicant in his asylum application form or his interview with the Asylum Service. Lastly, the applicant had admitted that his life would not be in danger if he returned nor would he be punished. 132. In conclusion, the Reviewing Authority held that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. 134. The Government submitted a copy of a letter dated 30 July 2009 which the Civil Registry and Migration Department had addressed to the applicant, informing him that following the negative decision of the Reviewing Authority, he was requested to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 136. In his application form to the Court the applicant claimed that on 20 March 2006 he and his mother lit a small fire to celebrate Nowruz. They also had the Kurdistan flag on their roof. The police raided their house during which they hit the applicant’s mother. She fell and had a minor head injury. They arrested the applicant and put him in detention. There were no formal legal proceedings and the applicant was released after his family bribed the police. In 2007 he was arrested once again but was released with the help of his family who bribed the officers. He managed to obtain a passport through bribery and left Syria on 15 July 2007. 140. His application was dismissed on 10 February 2009 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 and the 1951 Geneva Convention (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It noted that the applicant, during the interview, had claimed that he had left Syria because he had been persecuted by the Syrian authorities for being a member of the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party, an illegal organisation). It held that the applicant’s claims were not credible as he had not been able to reply satisfactorily to basic questions concerning the party. He was not therefore able to establish that his was a member of the party and therefore substantiate that this was the ground for which he was allegedly persecuted. 143. The Reviewing Authority in its decision observed that the applicant’s claims had not been credible and had been unsubstantiated. It noted that although the applicant claimed that he had been persecuted for being a member of the PKK and participating in activities and had fled for this reason, he was not able to give any information about the party. For example, he did not know who was the leader of the PKK, he was not able to draw the flag or to explain what the initials meant. Furthermore, he had a passport and had left the country legally without any problems. 144. In conclusion, the Reviewing Authority held that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. 146. By a letter dated 26 January 2010 the Civil Registry and Migration Department asked the applicant, following the negative decision of the Reviewing Authority, to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 149. In his application form to the Court the applicant stated that he was a member of the banned Azadi Kurdish party. On 7 August 2003 he completed his military service and then went back to his village where he discovered that the Syrian authorities had changed the name of his village into an Arabic one. Along with four other persons they rewrote the original name over the Arabic one on the road signs. After this, the intelligence service detained two of his friends. The applicant and the others fled to Aleppo. From the two persons arrested, the one disappeared in the hands of the authorities and the second one was released after spending two years in detention and after disclosing the identities of the ones who managed to escape. After getting help from members of the Azadi party, the applicant managed to get a passport. 150. The applicant left Syria on 23 September 2003 and came to Cyprus on 27 September 2003 with a tourist visa after travelling from Lebanon. 151. He applied for asylum on 23 September 2004, about a year later. In his form he claimed that he had left Syria because of the inhuman treatment Kurds were subjected to and their difficult living conditions. 152. The Asylum Service held an interview with him on 20 May 2008. During this he stated that he had left Syria because the Kurds had no rights and that a photograph had been taken of him during a demonstration of the Azadi party. He stated that he feared arrest and imprisonment upon his retrun. 153. His application was dismissed on 30 May 2008 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service found that the asylum application had not been substantiated. It noted that there had been discrepancies in his account of the facts which undermined his credibility in so far as he claimed that he had taken part in a demonstration during which his photo had been taken by the Syrian authorities. Further, it considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. 156. The Reviewing Authority in its decision observed that the applicant in his application had claimed that he had left Syria because of the conditions of living and human rights violations of Kurds. In his interview he also claimed that he had left as the authorities had taken a photo of him during a demonstration of the Azadi party in 2001 and if he returned he would be imprisoned as this is normally the case. The applicant was not able to give a more specific time frame for the demonstration The Reviewing Authority noted that the applicant had not had any problems with the authorities following that demonstration. At the same time he had claimed that he worked on and off in Lebanon for a period of two years and occasionally returned to Syria without any problems. He alleged that only on one occasion did the authorities force him and some friends to break up a meeting for Nowruz. The applicant’s account of facts and claims were full of discrepancies and unsubstantiated, undermining his credibility. 157. In conclusion, the Reviewing Authority held that the applicant had not established that he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Syria. Nor did he satisfy the conditions for temporary residence on humanitarian grounds. 158. The applicant submitted that he did not lodge a recourse against this decision as he was advised by a lawyer that it would be a waste of time and effort as the Supreme Court dismissed all such cases. 159. It appears that the applicant’s wife also applied for asylum. Her application was rejected on 24 July 2008 and her appeal on 25 September 2008. She was then asked, in a letter dated 23 June 2009 sent by the Civil Registry and Migration Department, to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 162. In his application form to the Court the applicant stated that on 12 March 2004 during the events at the football match in Qamishli, he got scared and left the town. He went to his home village, Amer Capi, where he stayed for seven months. When the situation improved he returned to Qamishli. On 1 June 2005 the civil police killed a prominent Kurdish religious leader. During the demonstration at the mosque the police officers took pictures of the demonstrators and two days later went to the applicant’s house searching for him. On 14 June 2005 the applicant left Syria. He travelled from Qamishli to Aleppo and then obtained a visa after bribing someone to issue a visa for Turkey. 166. His application was dismissed on 23 October 2008 on the ground that he did not fulfil the requirements of the Refugee Law of 2000-2007 and the 1951 Geneva Convention (see paragraph 20 above). The Asylum Service considered that there was no possibility of the applicant being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Syria. It noted that the applicant, during the interview, had claimed that he had left Syria because he was wanted by the Syrian authorities for participating in an illegal demonstration. His allegations, however, were unfounded and not credible, as during the interview his account of facts was full of discrepancies, contradictions and untruths. Furthermore, there were discrepancies between his written application form and the allegations made during the interview. In particular, the grounds he gave in his interview for leaving Syria where not the same as those he had given in his application. This undermined his overall credibility. 167. The applicant claims that he was not informed of the decision and in August 2009 he asked a non-governmental organisation to follow up his case. It was then that he discovered that his application had been dismissed. 168. In the meantime it appears that his temporary residence permit granted to him on the ground that he was an asylum seeker expired. 170. On 3 March 2010 his appeal was dismissed under Section 28 F (2) of the Refugee Law 2000-2009 (as amended up to 2009) on the ground that it had been filed out of time. The Reviewing Authority observed that the letter informing the applicant of the dismissal of his asylum application dated 23 October 2008 was served through a private messenger and that the delivery slip was signed by his fellow lodger. It noted that on 10 August 2009 a letter had been sent by a non-governmental organisation requesting information about the stage of proceedings of the applicant’s application. A letter was sent dated 17 August 2009 informing the NGO that the applicant’s claim had been examined, the decision had been sent to the applicant by registered post and according to the file it had been received. The appeal deadline was twenty days from the date the applicant was notified of the decision on the basis of section 28 F (2) of the Refugee Law (see paragraph 237 below). The appeal was filed on 9 December 2009, more than thirteen months following the date he had been notified of the decision. 171. The Government submitted that a letter was sent on 19 March 2010 informing him of this decision by double registered mail to the address given by the applicant. The letter had been returned. They provided a copy of the receipt on which it was noted “unclaimed”. 173. The Government submitted a copy of a letter dated 27 May 2010 which the Civil Registry and Migration Department had addressed to the applicant, informing him that following the negative decision of the Reviewing Authority he was requested to proceed to all necessary arrangements so as to depart from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at once. 174. On 17 May 2010 the Yekiti Party and other Kurds from Syria organised a demonstration in Nicosia, near the Representation of the European Commission, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance and the Government Printing Office. They were protesting against the restrictive policies of the Cypriot Asylum Service in granting international protection. About 150 Kurds from Syria, including the applicants, remained in the area around the clock, having set up about eighty tents on the pavement. According to the Government, the encampment conditions were unsanitary and protesters were obstructing road and pedestrian traffic. The encampment had become a hazard to public health and created a public nuisance. The protesters performed their daily chores on the pavement, including cooking and washing in unsanitary conditions. The sewage pits had overflown, causing a nuisance and offensive odours. The public lavatories were dirty and the rubbish bins of the Government buildings were being used and, as a result, were continuously overflowing. Furthermore, the protesters were unlawfully obtaining electricity from the Printing Office. Members of the public who lived or worked in the area had complained to the authorities. The Government submitted that efforts had been made by the authorities to persuade the protesters to leave, but to no avail. As a result, the authorities had decided to take action to remove the protesters from the area. 175. On 28 May 2010 instructions were given by the Minister of the Interior to proceed with the deportation of Syrian-Kurdish failed asylum seekers in the normal way. According to the Government these instructions superseded the ones given by the Minister of the Interior on 9 February 2010 (see paragraphs 22, 43 and 96 above). 176. On 31 May 2010 the Minister requested the Chief of Police, among others, to take action in order to implement his instructions. Further, he endorsed suggestions made by the competent authorities that deportation and detention orders be issued against Syrian-Kurdish failed asylum seekers who had passports and did not have Ajanib or Maktoumeen status and that the police execute the orders starting with the ones issued against the leaders of the protesters. The police were also directed to take into account the policy guidelines and to use discreet methods of arrest. 177. According to the Government, letters were sent by the Civil Registry and Migration Department to a number of failed Syrian-Kurdish asylum-seekers informing them that they had to make arrangements to leave Cyprus in view of their asylum applications being turned down (see M.A. v. Cyprus, no. 41872/10, § 32, ECHR 2013 (extracts)). The letter sent to H.Sw. was dated 27 May 2010, in thirteen cases, including those of H.S., A.T., M.S, A. Hu, H.H. and M.Y the letters were dated 1 June 2010, in respect of AM, the letter was dated 9 June 2010 and in respect of M.K., the letter was dated 28 June 2010. Another letter was dated 16 June 2010 (the asylum procedures having been completed in early 2008) and one letter was dated 5 February 2011 in a case where the asylum procedure had been completed on 22 April 2010 and the person in question had voluntarily agreed and did return to Syria on 24 September 2010. Letters had been sent out to the remaining applicants much earlier (see paragraphs 42, 74, 109 and 134 above). 178. From documents submitted by the Government it appears that from 31 May until 7 June 2010 the authorities kept the area under surveillance and kept a record of the protesters’ daily activities and of all comings and goings. In the relevant records it is noted that invariably, between 1.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m., things were, in general, quiet, and everyone was sleeping apart from those keeping guard. During the above-mentioned period a large-scale operation was organised by the Police Emergency Response Unit, “ERU” (“ΜΜΑΔ”), and a number of other authorities, including the Police Aliens and Immigration Unit, for the removal of the protesters and their transfer to the ERU headquarters for the purpose of ascertaining their status on a case-by-case basis. 179. In the meantime, between 28 May 2010 and 2 June 2010 orders for the detention and deportation of forty-five failed asylum seekers were issued following background checks. These included applicants A.T., F.T. and H.H. in respect of whom the orders were issued on 2 June 2010 pursuant to section 14 (6) of the Aliens and Immigration Law on the ground that they were “prohibited immigrants” within the meaning of section 6(1)(k) of that Law. Letters were sent by the District Aliens and Immigration Branch of the Nicosia Police to the Director of the Aliens and Immigration Service and the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, containing a short paragraph with information as to the immigration status of each person. This information included the date of rejection of the asylum application or the closure of the asylum file by the Asylum Service, the date of dismissal of the appeal by the Reviewing Authority, where lodged, and the date some of those concerned had been included on the authorities’ “stop list” (a register of individuals whose entry into and exit from Cyprus is banned or subject to monitoring). The letters recommended the issuance of deportation and detention orders. The Government submitted copies of two such letters with information concerning thirteen people. 180. The letter that included information on F.T. and another four of the persons detained stated that they all appeared to lead the political group, YEKITI, which was active in Cyprus and that they organised demonstrations complaining about their rights in Cyprus. It was considered that if the opportunity was given to them to organise themselves they could constitute a future threat to the security of Cyprus. 181. On 2 June 2010, letters were also prepared in English by the Civil Registry and Migration Department informing those concerned of the decision to detain and deport them. These included applicants A.T.., F.T. and H.H. The Government submitted that, at the time, the authorities did not know whether the individuals concerned by the decisions were among the protesters. 182. The removal operation was carried out on 11 June 2010, between approximately 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. with the participation of about 250 officers from the Police Aliens and Immigration Unit, the ERU, the Nicosia District Police Division, the Traffic Division, the Fire Service and the Office for Combating Discrimination of the Cyprus Police Headquarters. The protesters, including the applicants, were led to buses, apparently without any reaction or resistance on their part. At 3.22 a.m. the mini buses carrying the male protesters left. The women, children and babies followed at 3.35 a.m. A total of 149 people were located at the place of protest and were transferred to the ERU headquarters: eighty-seven men, twenty-two women and forty children. Upon arrival, registration took place and the status of each person was examined using computers which had been specially installed the day before. The Government submitted that during this period the protesters had not been handcuffed or put in cells but had been assembled in rooms and given food and drink. It appears from the documents submitted by the Government that by 6.40 a.m. the identification of approximately half of the group had been completed and that the whole operation had ended by 4.30 p.m. The applicants do not contest the Government’s account. 183. It was ascertained that seventy-six of the adults, along with their thirty children, were in the Republic unlawfully. Their asylum applications had either been dismissed or their files closed for failure to attend interviews. Those who had appealed to the Reviewing Authority had had their appeals dismissed. Some final decisions dated back to 2006. A number of people had also been included on the authorities’ “stop list”. Deportation orders had already been issued for twenty-three of them (see paragraph 34 above). 184. The authorities deported twenty-two people on the same day at around 6.30 p.m. (nineteen adults and three children). Forty-four people (forty-two men and two women), including the applicants, were arrested. Applicants A.T., F.T.. and H.H were detained under the deportation and detention orders that had been issued on 2 June 2010 (see paragraph 181 above). The remaining applicants were charged with the criminal offence of unlawful stay in the Republic under section 19(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Law (see M.A., cited above, § 65). The applicants, along with the other detainees, were transferred to various detention centres in Cyprus. H.S., A.T., F.T., and M.S. were placed in the Limassol Police Station Detention Facility; A.M. in the Larnaca Police Station Detention facility; M.J. and H.Sw. in the Paphos Police station Detention facility; A.Hu., H.H., A.Ab., I.K. and M.Y. in the immigration detention facilities in the Nicosia Central Prisons (Block 10); M.K. in the Paralimni Police Station Detention facility and H.M. in the Xilofagou Police Station Facility. All those detained who were found to be legally resident in the Republic returned to their homes. Further, on humanitarian grounds, thirteen women whose husbands were detained pending deportation and who had a total of twenty-seven children between them were not arrested themselves. This included M.Y’s wife (see paragraphs 159-160 above). 185. According to the Government, the applicants and their co-detainees were informed orally that they had been arrested and detained on the basis that they had been staying in the Republic unlawfully and were thus “prohibited immigrants” (see M.A., cited above, § 62). They were also informed of their rights pursuant to the Rights of Persons Arrested and Detained Law 2005 (Law no. 163(I)/of 2005) (see M.A., cited above, § 93) and, in particular, of their right to contact by phone, in person and in private, a lawyer of their own choice. The applicants submitted that they had not been informed of the reasons for their arrest and detention on that date. 186. On the same day letters were sent by the District Aliens and Immigration Branch of the Nicosia Police to the Director of the Aliens and Immigration Service and the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, recommending the issuance of deportation and detention orders. The letters contained a short paragraph in respect of each person with information as to his or her immigration status. This included the date of rejection of the asylum application or the closure of the asylum file by the Asylum Service and the date of dismissal of the appeal by the Reviewing Authority where lodged. Some letters also referred to the date the asylum application had been lodged and the date some of the individuals concerned had been included on the authorities’ “stop list”. The Government submitted copies of letters concerning thirty-seven people (most of these letters referred to groups of people). 187. Deportation and detention orders were also issued in Greek on the same day in respect of the remaining fifty-three people detained (see paragraph 183 above), including the remaining eleven applicants (see paragraph 179 above), pursuant to section 14 (6) of the Aliens and Immigration Law on the ground that they were “prohibited immigrants” within the meaning of section 6(1)(k) of that Law. These were couched in identical terms. The order issued in respect of A.Ab. also referred to 6(1)(l) of the Law. In respect of one more person the order mentioned sections 6(1)(i) (see M.A., cited above, § 41). 188. Subsequently, on the same date, letters were prepared in English by the Civil Registry and Migration Department informing all the detainees individually, including the remaining applicants (see paragraph 187 above), of the decision to detain and deport them. The Government submitted thirty-seven copies of these letters, including those addressed to the applicants, the text of which was virtually identical, a standard template having been used.
The text of the letter reads as follows:
“You are hereby informed that you are an illegal immigrant by virtue of paragraph (k). section 1, Article 6 of the Aliens and Immigration law, Chapter 105, as amended until 2009, because you of illegal entry [sic]
Consequently your temporary residence permit/migration permit has been revoked and I have proceeded with the issue of deportation orders and detention orders dated 11th June 2010 against you.
You have the right to be represented before me, or before any other Authority of the Republic and express possible objections against your deportation and seek the services of an interpreter.” 189. The only differences was that some letters referred to illegal stay rather than illegal entry and that the letters issued earlier referred to 2 June 2010 as the date of issuance of the deportation and detention orders (see paragraph 181 above). 190. On the copy of the letters to the applicants provided by the Government, there is a handwritten signed note by a police officer stating that the letters were served on the applicants on 18 June 2010 but that they refused to receive and sign for them. The other letters had a similar note or stamp on them with the same date, stating that the person concerned had refused to sign for and/or receive the letter. In a letter dated 7 September 2010 the Government stated that the applicants had been served on 18 June 2010. In their subsequent observations the Government submitted, however, that this was the second attempt to serve the letters, the first attempt having been made on 11 June 2010, that is, the day of the arrest. 191. The applicants submitted that they had never refused to receive any kind of information in writing. They claimed that it had only been on 14 June 2010 that they had been informed orally that they would be deported to Syria on the same day but that the deportation and detention orders were not served on them on that date or subsequently. They submitted that they had eventually been informed by their lawyer, following the receipt of information submitted by the Government to the Court in the context of the application of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that deportation and detention orders had been issued against them. 192. From the documents submitted by the Government, it appears that at least another fourteen of the detainees were to be deported on 14 June 2010 (this figure is stated in documents submitted by the Government with no further details). 193. On Saturday, 12 June 2010, the applicants, along with twenty-nine other persons of Kurdish origin, submitted a Rule 39 request in order to prevent their imminent deportation to Syria. 194. On 14 June 2010 the President of the First Section decided to apply Rule 39, indicating to the respondent Government that the detainees should not be deported to Syria until the Court had had the opportunity to receive and examine all the documents pertaining to their claim. The parties were requested under Rule 54 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court to submit information and documents concerning the asylum applications and the deportation. 195. On 21 September 2010 the President of the First Section reconsidered the application of Rule 39 in the light of information provided by the parties. He decided to lift Rule 39 in thirty-nine applications, including the present ones. He decided to maintain the interim measure in respect of five applications (for further details see M.A., cited above, § 58). Rule 39 was subsequently lifted with regard to three of the applications. 196. Following this decision the applicants who were not covered by Rule 39 were deported to Syria on various dates (see section D below). 198. By a letter dated 27 December 2010 the applicant’s representative informed the Court that she had received information from the Kurdish Organization for the Defence of Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria (“DAD”) that the applicant had been arrested and detained in Adra prison in Damascus. 199. By a letter dated 24 July 2012 the applicant’s representative informed the Court that the applicant was living in the Kurdish area of |
the Leningrad Region | 9. On 13 October 2004 Mr B. was arrested on suspicion of robbery. The next day the Frunzenskiy District Court of St Petersburg authorised his detention pending investigation. He was then taken to remand prison no. IZ‑47/6 in |
the Pionerskaya river | 87. In similar letters of 11 June and 9 August 2004 respectively, the regional prosecutor’s office notified the fourth and second applicants of the status of the proceedings in cases nos. 916725 and 292025 and stated that, following its requests of 2002, work had been carried out to clean up |
Urus-Martan | 125. A decision of 17 November 2003 terminated the criminal proceedings in case no. 34/00/0008-03. It provided a description of the situation in the Chechen Republic and, more specifically, in the vicinity of |
premises | 29. On 5 September 2013 the second and third applicants asked the Centre to rule on their contact rights in respect of M.M., which the Centre did by a decision of 21 January 2014 (it specified supervised meetings on the Centre’s |
Nikitskoe | 52. On 8 July 2010 the applicant and a journalist went to Nikitskoe and saw Mr M.A. and M.’s cousin. Mr M.A. told the applicant that her son was not in the village. On the same date the police established that M. resided at the |
premises | 11. On 7 May 2013 X. filed her written statement confirmed on oath (affidavit), as well as that of her mother. In her affidavit X. claimed that she had been born in London of a relationship between her mother (Y.) and the applicant, and that as of her young age she had always been told that the applicant was her father. After her sixteenth birthday she had sent a letter to him, which remained unanswered. She claimed that in 1978 on having knowledge that the applicant was going to be in Malta she went to meet him at the airport – on that day she had seen him arrive with his family, and noted the resemblance between herself and one of the applicant’s daughters. On that occasion she had not approached him, but they met some time later before a lawyer. She stated that the applicant greeted her warmly and that, after that, they met various times. She also met the applicant’s wife. According to X. the applicant had told her that he would not inform his children about her in order not to disrupt their schooling and she agreed. X. stated that the applicant started visiting Malta regularly on his own and when she had become pregnant he had offered her one of his properties to live in, and in this way they lived there together on his visits to the island. On the birth of X.’s daughter in 1979, the applicant had been the latter’s god parent as shown by relevant certification. She claimed that upon the applicant’s suggestion she moved to the U.K. only to return sixteen months later because she missed Malta. At that stage the applicant had given her the keys to another property for her to reside in. She remained in close contact with him until 1985. In 1998 she was evicted from the property and thereafter their relationship deteriorated. X. explained that during the eviction proceedings the applicant had promised her a sum of money to leave the |
Nadterechniy | 63. On an unspecified date the investigators questioned Mr E.A. who stated that about two or three weeks after the apprehension of Aslan and Mokhmad Mudayev he had been detained on the premises of the FSB office in the |
Balkans | 15. On 15 May 1992 the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, demanded that all units of the JNA and all elements of the Croatian Army either be withdrawn from Bosnia and Herzegovina, or be subject to the authority of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or be disbanded and disarmed with their weapons placed under effective international monitoring (see Resolution 757). While the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 19 May 1992, the United Nations Secretary General and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“the ICTY”), a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the |
premises | 27. On 17 May 2005 the Čakovec County Court allowed the applicant's appeal in the part concerning the qualification of certain offences and reduced the sentence to six years and four months' imprisonment while dismissing the remainder of his complaints. The relevant parts of the appeal judgment read as follows:
“In his personal appeal the defendant complains of serious breaches of the provisions regulating criminal proceedings, [these being] his inability to consult the case file; reliance of the impugned judgment on evidence under Article 9, paragraph 2, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, namely, the written record of the search of his flat and other |
the Far East | 6. On 28 July 2015 the applicant published on YouTube a video with the title “Kolkhoz TV on Ukrainian crisis” (Колхозное телевидение об украинском кризисе) where he made comments on Ms F.’s speech as follows:
“Ms F.: Nobody in the whole world has ever thought that Russia would become such a strong country and ... that Russia would reach new horizons...
The applicant (Mr R.): Nodding ironically, showing the brochure “Life of a galley slave”.
Ms F.: ... would organise worldwide renowned Olympic Games...
Mr R.: Nodding ironically, showing brochure “Winter Olympic Games in subtropics”.
Ms F.: ...and would host the Eurovision competition and, at the same time, would become a leading leader among gases (станет лидирующим лидером среди газа).
Mr R.: Yet today, according to the latest reports of the Mendeleyev international rating agency, Russia has reached the top of the list, drawing ahead of such gases as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Ms F.: ...There is a war against Russia, which has become a first-rate power and everybody is annoyed by this fact...They want us to die of drug and alcohol abuse and poverty etc.
Mr R.: But it is not true that we die of alcohol, drugs and poverty... poverty?
Ms F.: ... Ukraine is, so to say, our Russian belly...
Mr R.: I am afraid of asking what |
Leninskiy district | 37. On 13 July 2006 the investigators interviewed officer V.S. as a witness. She stated that from 9 a.m. on 8 June 2006 she had been on duty at the checkpoint of the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office. At about 10.10 a.m. servicemen from checkpoint no. 1 had called her and informed her that Khamzat Tushayev had come for an appointment with T.M., the prosecutor of the |
the Zavodskoy District | 39. On 10 August 2001 the commander of the Chechen OMON drew up a report on the result of the internal investigation into the death of their officer, Aslanbek Kukayev. The report stated that on 26 November 2000 Aslanbek Kukayev and D. had left for |
Urus-Martan | 80. On 18 February 2003 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 responded to the first applicant, informing her that, as with her previous requests, this was not a matter for the military prosecutor’s office. The letter further informed her that the criminal investigation into her son’s abduction would only be transferred from the |
the Magadan Region | 91. The Regional Court noted in its decision that all of the applicant’s arguments had been examined and dismissed previously when extending his detention on remand. It also noted that its decision to announce the break in the hearing from 1 July to 18 August 2008 criticised by the defence had been justified by the jurors’ summer leave outside |
Ordzhonikidzevskiy District | 9. In February 1998 the Sverdlovsk Regional Prosecutor re-opened the criminal proceedings against the applicant on the charges of manslaughter and arms possession and remitted the case for further investigation. On 17 November 1998 an investigator of the |
the Pionerskaya river | 94. The applicants brought five separate sets of civil proceedings against the Primorskiy Region and Vladivostok City authorities and – save for the second and fifth applicants – the Water Company, seeking damages for their lost property as well as compensation for the anguish and distress they had suffered during the flood of 7 August 2001. They claimed that the flood had had such devastating effects mainly because of the poor state of the channel of |
Kavkaz | 8. At the material time, the village of Assinovskaya was under the total control of the Russian federal forces. Military checkpoints manned by Russian servicemen were located on the roads leading to and from the settlement. One of the checkpoints, called |
West | 53. In his expert report of 31 January 2014 to the Board, B.S. had given the following assessment of the situation:
“According to information received, the father is currently in Iraq. If he returns to [Norway], he must expect to be arrested to serve the prison term he was sentenced to for the abduction. [I do] not know if he would then be expelled from the country. The present situation resembles the situation that the High Court deemed to be associated with less risk for the children [(see paragraph 49 above)].
[I do] not necessarily agree with the High Court’s assessment. This is a complex issue, and to the extent that the question of risk can be clarified with a sufficient degree of certainty, that would require extensive investigation which would also involve the parents’ relatives and other networks in countries other than Norway. That is far beyond the remit of the expert examination. Nevertheless, it is possible to make some general reflections based partly on knowledge about what is common in the parents’ culture, and partly on information provided by the parents themselves.
The children belong to the father’s family. Not just to the father, but to his family. The mother has main responsibility for bringing up the children as long as they are regarded as children. It is therefore unproblematic for the father to accept that the children be returned to the mother to grow up with her. Once they are grown up, however, they will still belong to their father’s family. They will be considered ‘adult’ long before the Norwegian age of majority; age of sexual maturity is a more relevant criterion than chronological age.
For a family that is concerned with the honour code, the actions of an adult daughter have a bearing on the whole family’s honour. If she leads a life in conflict with the family’s norms, particularly as regards her sexual life, this affects the whole family, which will lose all prestige in the eyes of the surrounding world. In extreme cases, the family may feel forced to track down the woman and kill her to restore the family’s honour and prestige. This does not necessarily diminish with time and distance. Nor does this only apply in conservative religious families; it is more a question of culture than of religion. There are several examples of relatives tracking down women living in Western countries and committing so-called honour killings despite the family having lived in the |
the Ferghana Valley | 113. The chapter entitled “Uzbekistan 2011” in the Amnesty International annual report for 2011, released in May of the same year, in so far as relevant, states as follows:
“Reports of torture or other ill-treatment continued unabated. Dozens of members of minority religious and Islamic groups were given long prison terms after unfair trials ...
...
Torture and other ill-treatment
Despite assertions by the authorities that the practice of torture had significantly decreased, reports of torture or other ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners continued unabated. In most cases, the authorities failed to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into these allegations.
Several thousand people convicted of involvement with Islamist parties or Islamic movements banned in Uzbekistan, as well as government critics and political opponents, continued to serve long prison terms under conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Uzbekistan again refused to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit the country despite renewed requests.
...
Counter-terror and security
Closed trials started in January of nearly 70 defendants charged in relation to attacks in |
Urus-Martan | 43. The applicant was granted victim status and questioned on numerous occasions. She submitted that Yusup Satabayev had been a member of a paramilitary group. She had no information about his fate after his release from the |
South Hook | 53. In the meantime, on 21 January 2003, Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil applied to Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority for hazardous substances consent for the storage and gasification of LNG at the |
Южном федеральном округе | 29. Since 13 June 2001 the applicant has repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies, including prosecutors at different levels, district and regional military commanders, local and regional administrative authorities of Chechnya, the Federal Security Service of Russia, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian President in the Southern Federal Circuit (Полномочный представитель Президента РФ в |
the Groznenskiy District | 53. On 22 June 2007 the Groznenskiy ROVD replied to the investigators that it had no information concerning the officers who had worked in its detention facility in 2000 and recommended that they contact the Operational Task Force of the Russian federal forces in |
Primorskiy | 7. On 19 March 2014 the applicant was arrested in St Petersburg on suspicion of murdering a Chinese policeman in 1996. He was in possession of a Russian national passport in the name of A.L., born in 1972 in the |
Achkhoy-Martan | 13. On 29 September 2003 the Civil Registry Office of the Achkhoy-Martan district issued a death certificate to the effect that Alaudin Gandaloyev had died on 17 September 2003 in the village of Yandi of the |
premises | 8. On 9 March 2010 two police officers went to the applicant’s workplace to enforce the warrant to appear. According to the report produced by the police officers and signed by the applicant, he was shown the warrant to appear and was informed that he would be taken to the N.A.D.’s |
Europe | 32. On 21 July 1998 the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE)[2] to the European Commission issued Opinion no. 11 “On Ethical aspects of human tissue banking”. Its relevant parts read:
“2.3 Information and consent
The procurement of human tissues requires, as a principle, the prior, informed and free consent of the person concerned. This does not apply in the case of tissue procurement ordered by a judge in the context of judicial, in particular criminal, proceedings.
While consent is a fundamental ethical principle in |
Caucasus | 58. The applicant submitted a number of copies of press articles and flyers concerning the events. A copy of a newspaper edited by the RNKA called Natsionalnaya Mysl (National Thought), issue no. 1(7) 2002, contained an article in which the events in Chastoozerye were described as a justified reaction by the local population, which was “enslaved” and “occupied” by “aliens from the |
premises | 20. The majority therefore examined whether the detention regime under Part 4 of the 2001 Act was a proportionate response to the emergency situation, and concluded that it did not rationally address the threat to security and was a disproportionate response to that threat. They relied on three principal grounds: firstly, that the detention scheme applied only to non-nationals suspected of international terrorism and did not address the threat which came from United Kingdom nationals who were also so suspected; secondly, that it left suspected international terrorists at liberty to leave the United Kingdom and continue their threatening activities abroad; thirdly, that the legislation was drafted too broadly, so that it could, in principle, apply to individuals suspected of involvement with international terrorist organisations which did not fall within the scope of the derogation.
On the first point, Lord Bingham emphasised that SIAC’s finding that the terrorist threat was not confined to non-nationals had not been challenged. Since SIAC was the responsible fact-finding tribunal, it was unnecessary to examine the basis for its finding, but there was evidence that “upwards of a thousand individuals from the UK are estimated on the basis of intelligence to have attended training camps in Afghanistan in the last five years”; that some British citizens were said to have planned to return from Afghanistan to the United Kingdom; and that the background material relating to the applicants showed the high level of involvement of British citizens and those otherwise connected with the United Kingdom in the terrorist networks. Lord Bingham continued:
“33. ... It is plain that sections 21 and 23 of the 2001 Act do not address the threat presented by UK nationals since they do not provide for the certification and detention of UK nationals. It is beside the point that other sections of the 2001 Act and the 2000 Act do apply to UK nationals, since they are not the subject of derogation, are not the subject of complaint and apply equally to foreign nationals. Yet the threat from UK nationals, if quantitatively smaller, is not said to be qualitatively different from that from foreign nationals. It is also plain that sections 21 and 23 do permit a person certified and detained to leave the United Kingdom and go to any other country willing to receive him, as two of the appellants did when they left for Morocco and France respectively ... Such freedom to leave is wholly explicable in terms of immigration control: if the British authorities wish to deport a foreign national but cannot deport him to country ‘A’ because of Chahal their purpose is as well served by his voluntary departure for country ‘B’. But allowing a suspected international terrorist to leave our shores and depart to another country, perhaps a country as close as France, there to pursue his criminal designs, is hard to reconcile with a belief in his capacity to inflict serious injury to the people and interests of this country. ...
... 35. The fifth step in the appellants’ argument permits of little elaboration. But it seems reasonable to assume that those suspected international terrorists who are UK nationals are not simply ignored by the authorities. When [the fifth applicant] was released from prison by SIAC on bail ... it was on condition (among other things) that he wear an electronic monitoring tag at all times; that he remain at his premises at all times; that he telephone a named security company five times each day at specified times; that he permit the company to install monitoring equipment at his |
Andijan | 14. On 22 June 2009 the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office issued an extradition order against the applicant. The text of the decision included the following:
“... the Andijan Region Investigations Department of the Uzbek Ministry of the Interior is investigating a criminal case against U. Ergashev ...
The charges against U. Ergashev state that between 22 May 1999 and 2007, in the |
Urus-Martan | 12. According to the statement by M.K., all of the people present in the applicants’ house heard the noise of departing vehicles and, after untying the second applicant, they tried to follow the vehicles by their noise but did so in vain. Their attempt brought them to the centre of |
Sunzhenskiy | 10. In the evening of 17 June 2004 the Medovs were informed that their son, Mr Adam Medov, was being detained at the Sunzhenskiy District Department of the Interior (the Sunzhenskiy ROVD). At about 8 p.m. several of Mr Adam Medov’s relatives, including his father and two brothers, arrived at the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya (also called Sleptsovskaya) – the administrative centre of the |
Aegean and Vardar Macedonia | 15. On 4 March 1999 sixty‑one members of the Bulgarian parliament requested the Constitutional Court to declare the applicant party unconstitutional, more specifically, contrary to Articles 11 § 4 and 44 § 2 of the Constitution of 1991. They argued that the party had in fact been formed in 1990 and was a successor of the “illegal” UMO Ilinden. They further argued that the party’s ultimate aim was the formation of an independent Macedonian state through the secession of Pirin Macedonia from Bulgaria. The party’s members and leaders had on numerous occasions declared such goals. The party’s original constitution, amended in the course of the proceedings before the Sofia City Court, contained language to the effect that it would “protect the interests of the population of Pirin Macedonia [and] of the refugees from |
Transdniestria | 11. On 23 June 1990 Moldova proclaimed its sovereignty; on 23 May 1991 it changed its name to the Republic of Moldova; and on 27 August 1991 the Moldovan parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova, whose territory included |
South Hook | 92. He noted that the essence of the applicants’ case was:
“... that the decision-makers did not adequately consider what are called ‘marine risks’, namely the risks to those in the Milford Haven area from an escape of LNG from a ship. In particular, concern is expressed about the risk of the formation, in the event of such an escape, of a flammable gas cloud. It is stressed that a population of some 20,000 lies within a radius of just over 4 miles of the |
Southern Russia | 34. Insofar as Russian political support for Transdniestria was concerned, the Moldovan Government pointed to, inter alia, the statement by the Russian Duma that the Transdniestrian electoral code was in accordance with Russian legislation and European requirements in that field, the statement made in October 2005 by the Russian Ambassador in Moldova during the celebration of the anniversary of the city of Tiraspol proclaiming that “Tiraspol was and continues to be an integral part of |
Šimićeva Street | 27. Following a request for the protection of legality (zahtjev za zaštitu zakonitosti) by the Principal State Attorney, on 12 July 1996 the Supreme Court quashed the Administrative Court’s judgment and remitted the case. The Supreme Court held that the Administrative Court and the administrative authorities had wrongly applied the relevant military housing standards to the facts of the case. The Supreme Court also held that the issue of whether the flat in |
the Sunzhenskiy mountain ridge | 33. According to the documents submitted by the Government, the first applicant complained on 21 June 2002 to the district prosecutor's office that her sons had been abducted. In her letter she stated that her sons had been abducted by Russian servicemen who had arrived in APCs; that they had been detained for some time at the checkpoint located on |
the Central District of Yerevan | 6. On 1 August 2002 the Government adopted Decree no. 1151-N, approving the expropriation zones of the immovable property (plots of land, buildings and constructions) situated within the administrative boundaries of |
Urus-Martan | 71. According to the Government, the newspaper article submitted by the applicant about the discovery of several corpses in the Urus-Martan district had no connection with the applicant’s case; no criminal proceedings had been initiated in connection with these discoveries. The Government submitted that in June 2002 four other corpses had been found in the orchards on the outskirt of |
Kalvarija | 39. V.M., K.M. and A.P. were accused of a serious breach of public order during the riot, under Article 283 § 1 of the Criminal Code. The prosecutor maintained that on 21 May 2003, at around 11.50 a.m., approximately 1,500 people had gone onto the Kaunas-Marijampolė-Suvalkai highway at the ninety-fourth kilometre. At about 3 or 4 p.m. the above-mentioned applicants had driven three tractors onto the highway and had left them on the carriageway. The three applicants had refused to follow police instructions not to breach public order and not to leave the tractors on the road. The tractors had remained on the road until 4.15 p.m. on 22 May 2003. As a result, the highway had been blocked from the eighty-fourth to the ninety-fourth kilometre. Due to the resulting increase in traffic on neighbouring roads, congestion had built up and road transport in the region had come to a halt. The normal functioning of the |
Yedigölller | 61. The parties submitted various documents concerning the investigation into the alleged abduction and killing of Savaş Buldan. 1. Official documents
The documents listed below concern the statements taken from various witnesses and the investigation in relation to the kidnapping and subsequent killing of the applicant's brother.
(a) Witness testimonies
(i)Statement of Sabahattin Uz, doorman of the Çınar Hotel, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Bakırköy public prosecutor's office.
(ii)Statement of Hüseyin Kılıç, security guard of the Çınar hotel, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Bakırköy public prosecutor's office.
(iii)Statement of Serdar Özdemir, dated 5 June 1994, taken by the Bakırköy public prosecutor's office.
(iv)Statement of Hüseyin Durmazer, dated 5 June 1994, taken by the Bakırköy public prosecutor's office.
(v)Statement of İsmail Taşcan, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(vi)Statement of Ayşe Araç, a villager, dated 6 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(vii)Statement of Bengül Ünsal, a student, dated 4 June 1994, taken by Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(viii)Statement of Nuriye Cesur, a student, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(ix)Statement of Ayşe Uzun, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(x)Statement of Hazım Yıldız, driver of the school bus, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xi)Statement of Mehmet Baş, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xii)Statement of Seyfettin Akmak, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xiii)Statement of Fevzi Aydın Aslan, a villager, dated 6 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xiv)Statement of Bayram Yılmaz, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xv)Statement of İrfan Kurşunlu, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xvi)Statements of Hasan Baş; a villager, dated 4 June 1994 and 6 June 1994 taken by theYığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xvii)Statement of Mehmet Beşir Erdoğan, a villager, dated 4 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xvii)Statement of Mehmet Yıldız, a villager, dated 6 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xviii)Statement of Şevket Öztürk, a villager, dated 6 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xix)Statement of Yunus Öztürk, dated 6 June 1994, taken by the Yığılca District Gendarmerie.
(xx)Statement of Ruhi Aldal, who works at the |
premises | 79. Sometime later the applicants received information from unidentified sources that Mr Ruslan Edilsultanov had allegedly been detained in a remand prison in Vladikavkaz. During one of the applicants’ visits to that prison, a senior officer, who introduced himself as “Yuriy Borisovich”, confirmed that the applicants’ relative had indeed been detained on their |
Shchelkovo | 24. The article criticised a local entrepreneur, G.A., one of N.’s opponents in the campaign, and suggested that the authorities should investigate his business activities. The article read, in so far as relevant, as follows:
“... One of the covert heads of the limited liability company Roads of the XXI Century, who is also the head of the Prince Casino, a certain G.A., who is in direct contact with the mayor of Fryazino, U., and connected to him by a dubious financial relationship linked to the construction of housing and commercial car parks in Fryazino, arranged for a criminal case opened against U. to be terminated. Meanwhile, in conversation with me, G.A. was open about the fact that he had personally paid ‘werewolves in epaulettes’ [corrupt policemen] one million U.S. dollars!!!
In reply to my question as to where he had got such a huge [amount of] money, G.A. said he was a ‘person of immense authority’ in Fryazino and the |
premises | 55. In the meantime, the investigators asked various authorities, including the FSB in Ingushetia and the Ministry of the Interior to provide them with information about the special operation in Nazran, the alleged detention of Mr Murad Zakriyev and Mr Rustam Muradov on the |
A.C. | 17. In addition, there were two dissenting opinions. According to the first one, in view of the fact that the National Radio and Television Council had considered that the broadcasting of news that had been recorded by secret means had constituted a legitimate exercise of the right to impart information, the same considerations should be extended to the broadcasting of the relevant image. The reason for this was the special nature of television, in comparison with the other media, owing to which the broadcasting of the image went hand-in-hand with broadcasting the news itself. Therefore, the application for annulment should have been allowed, given that the National Radio and Television Council’s decision had been based solely on the fact that the image of |
Africa | 6. At 1.30 p.m. on 7 February 2008 a French Navy vessel, the helicopter carrier Tonnerre, intercepted the Junior. A press release from the Maritime Prefect for the Atlantic seaboard, entitled “Interception of a boat transporting drugs off |
premises | 9. Following the prosecutor’s order of 16 June 2008, a special police operation was carried out on 18 June 2008 in two of the company’s offices located in the same street in Varna. The operation was aimed at the search and seizure of illegal software and was carried out pursuant to the instructions of the supervising prosecutor. Ya.K., a CSCOC officer and the head of the operation, had given the operational instructions to the officers involved shortly before the operation began. Those instructions were to enter the company’s |
the Northern Caucasus | 30. Immediately after the detention of their family members the applicants started to search for them. The search was primarily carried out by the mothers of the detained men, together with Marzet Imakayeva, the applicant in application no. 7615/02. On numerous occasions, both in person and in writing, they applied to prosecutors at various levels, to the Ministry of the Interior, to the Special Envoy of the Russian President in the Chechen Republic for rights and freedoms, to military commanders, the Federal Security Service (FSB), to the administrative authorities in Chechnya, to the media and to public figures. The applicants also personally visited detention centres, police stations, military bases and prisons in Chechnya as well as further afield in |
premises | 37. At about 4.30 a.m. on 13 June 1990 members of the police and gendarmerie brutally charged the demonstrators in University Square. The arrested demonstrators were driven away and locked up at the Bucharest municipal police station. The 263 arrested individuals (or 262, according to the decision to commit for trial of 18 May 2000) included students from the Architecture Institute, who had been on the |
Northern Finland | 15. Concerning the evidence, the Market Court noted that evidence in competition law cases could be either direct or indirect, such as economic evidence. As direct evidence was not always available, an assessment was to be made of whether indirect evidence was sufficient to prove the existence of a cartel. The court found that, in the present case, the economic evidence alone was not sufficient to prove the existence of a cartel. The court also found that the existence of a cartel could not be proved on the basis of hearsay evidence. In the present case, the Market Court reached its conclusion in respect of the central government asphalt contracts by relying, inter alia, on the testimonies of eight witnesses. However, to the extent that those testimonies contained hearsay evidence, such evidence was not taken into account. As far as local government and private sector contracts were concerned, the Market Court analysed the evidence for restrictions of competition region by region and found it sufficient in respect of certain regions while insufficient in respect of others. As regards the regions where the applicant company was doing business ( |
Starye Atagi | 45. On an unspecified date in 2002 (the exact date on the copy of the document at the Court's disposal is illegible) the district prosecutor's office sent a letter to the VOVD and the ROVD, which read, in so far as relevant, as follows:
“On 18 February 2002 four charred corpses of unidentified men were found in a demolished house ... in Mesker-Yurt. According to statements by the servicemen of military unit no. 3179, they killed the said men in the course of an armed clash.
... There are grounds to assume that the bodies were transferred to the said place in order to stage armed resistance to hide evidence of a murder.
Accordingly, I would ask your unit to take the following investigative measures:
... 2. To identify the killed men (they were most probably brought from |
the Urus-Martan District | 50. By a letter dated 18 August 2004 the district prosecutor’s office informed the first applicant that it had examined his complaint and had decided not to institute criminal proceedings against the FSB officers. The refusal to institute criminal proceedings was enclosed in the letter and, in so far as relevant, stated as follows:
“...
On 6 August 2004 the district prosecutor’s office received the [first applicant’s] request to institute criminal proceedings against FSB officers ... The complaint alleges that upon admission to the district FSB Zelimkhan Isayev was tortured with electric wires, beaten up and made to sign unspecified documents ...
Following the examination of the submissions contained in the complaint it has been established:
On 10 May 2004 ... Zelimkhan Isayev was arrested in the village of Goi-Chu ... in connection with the proceedings in criminal case no. 37045 ... During his arrest Zelimkhan Isayev offered resistance and the officers of the district division of the FSB had to apply physical force. According to statements of servicemen of the 13th military commander’s office of |
the Northern Caucasus | 18. On 2 November 2005 the district prosecutor's office suspended the investigation in the criminal case for failure to identify the perpetrators. The decision stated that the investigators had: questioned three neighbours of Said-Magamed Tovsultanov, as well as several salespersons from the kiosks located next to the place of his abduction; put Said-Magamed Tovsultanov's VAZ-2107 car on the search list; checked the registration log of the “Volga‑20” border police checkpoint concerning the passage of vehicles on the day of the abduction; and forwarded information requests to various law‑enforcement agencies in various regions of |
Gorky Park | 44. On various dates those reports were examined by the Kharkiv Dzerzhinsky District Court (“the District Court”). During the hearings, the applicants pleaded not guilty. They submitted, in particular, that on the morning of 28 May 2010 they had been in |
Attica | 6. The applicants refer to the factual circumstances of that judgment for the period up to October 2007 and in particular to the following:
“29. On 20 June 2006, the third constituency of the West Attica Primary Education Council sent a letter to the director of |
the Ob River | 345. In the second applicant’s submission, the Government’s argument that there was a direct railway connection with Kharp township and direct flights between Salekhard and Moscow was certainly true. However, the train journey usually took 48 hours, while to reach Kharp from Salekhard airport one had to cross |
Cüm Hill | 21. On 8 October 1996 Feyzi Doğan, the father of Hürriyet Doğan, and the applicant gave statements to the sergeant. The applicant's statement was as follows:
“On 7 October 1996, at around 3 a.m., I heard guns being fired from the direction of |
the Kaliningrad Region | 22. The first and second applicants complained to the State Labour Inspectorate about the reassignment of DUR members to the special teams. On 25 August 1998 the head of the State Labour Inspectorate for |
Sepah | 15. On 18 June 2007 the Migration Court held an oral hearing. In response to his lawyer's questions the applicant stated, inter alia, that he had participated in demonstrations critical against the regime since 1988 and that, in 1997 or 1998, he had started to notice that his criticism was not appreciated. He had participated in yearly demonstrations, such as on women's day and on labour day. Mostly he had participated in meetings on various premises. A relative of his wife had been an official at the intelligence agency and thus he had been assured that nothing would happen to him. He had been one of 4-5,000 participants in the demonstration in 2001 and he had played no special role, but it had been monitored by the authorities. He had been arrested and accused of being against Islam and the regime. In connection with a visit by his wife to |
premises | 59. On unspecified dates the investigators forwarded requests to the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 in Khankala and the Chechnya FSB, asking whether the abducted men were being detained on their |
the Oktiabrskiy District | 23. On the dates specified in Annex I the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court quashed the judgments in the applicants' favour and remitted the cases for a fresh consideration. In each case the Presidium concluded that the first-instance court had erroneously applied the substantive law. They also found that the Novocherkassk Town Court had lacked territorial jurisdiction to examine the cases. The arrears were awarded against the Military Commissariat of the Rostov Region and thus the cases should have been examined by a court in |
Gekhi | 43. On unspecified dates the investigators questioned three military servicemen, Mr G., Mr U. and Mr O. all of whom provided similar statements concerning the events. According to Mr G., who had been the head of the military intelligence group, on 16 May 2000 his group had been taking search measures in the area next to |
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