Strasbourg orders Russia to pay $224,000 over Chechen lawsuits

PARIS, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to pay 160,000 euros ($224,000) in compensation to the relatives of five Chechens who disappeared in 2001.

The applicants said Russia failed to carry out an "effective investigation" when their relatives disappeared after "being detained by Russian servicemen," the Strasbourg court said in a statement.

In the first case, four men went missing in the Grozny district on July 18, 2001, during a Russian military operation in the North Caucasus republic.

Ali Uspayev and Amir Magomedov were taken from the family home by armed men in camouflage uniforms. Aslan Dokayev and Rustam Achkhanov were wounded in an attack on their car and taken to an armored military vehicle.

Russia has denied that Dokayev and Achkhanov were shot.

In the second case, Abu Khasuyev was abducted from the family home in Urus-Martan district on August 30, 2001, by a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms.

The court ordered Russia to pay applicants 135,000 euros in non-pecuniary damage, 18,000 euros in pecuniary damage and 8,000 euros in costs and expenses.

Russia has lost the majority of cases brought against it in the Strasbourg court. In 2008, the court ruled against Russia 245 times. Around 20% of all complaints made to the court in the past decade have involved Russia.