Tokens: 22
.
The
Court
’s
ultimate
conclusion
in
the
present
case
is
that
the
domestic
courts
’
reasoning
was
not
sufficient
“
to
enable
the
Court
to
assess
on
which
basis
the
domestic
courts
concluded
that
in
1953
Lithuanian
partisans
constituted
a
significant
part
of
the
national
group
”
(
see
paragraph
181
of
the
present
judgment
)
.
Interestingly
,
the
Court
itself
raises
a
doubt
as
to
its
own
limited
approach
to
the
interpretation
of
the
words
“
in
part
”
(
see
paragraph
17
above
)
.
Furthermore
,
the
Court
accepts
that
“
the
applicant
’s
argument
is
not
without
weight
,
namely
that
his
actions
,
and
those
of
the
MGB
,
were
aimed
at
the
extermination
of
the
partisans
as
a
separate
and
clearly
identifiable
group
,
characterised
by
its
armed
resistance
to
Soviet
power
”
(
see
paragraph
182
of
the
present
judgment
)
.
This
latter
position
by
the
Court
is
particularly
striking
.
Does
it
mean
that
the
Court
accepts
arbitrary
killings
of
combatants
,
assuming
that
partisans
were
combatants
,
or
that
it
accepts
extrajudicial
killings
?
In
Kononov
,
with
reference
to
its
long
line
of
case
-
law
,
the
Court
pointed
to
the
due
-
diligence
principle
in
Article
2
cases
.
Given
the
context
and
the
scale
of
the
acts
of
extermination
of
the
Baltic
nations
by
the
Soviet
repressive
structures
following
the
Second
World
War
,
there
is
no
question
that
investigations
and
prosecutions
could
be
initiated
into
crimes
against
humanity
or
genocide
(
with
regard
to
events
in
Lithuania
,
see
paragraph
62
of
the
present
judgment
)
.
In
this
context
,
it
is
particularly
strange
to
find
the
Court
giving
weight
to
the
argument
that
the
arbitrary
killing
of
those
resisting
Soviet
power
was
,
as
it
were
,
in
the
nature
of
political
confrontation
.
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