ECHR recognises Russia's systematic violations of human rights by its "borderisation" in Georgia

After more than five years of trial, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognised that the so-called borderisation on the border with the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia and the territory controlled by Tbilisi has created a systematic practice of human rights violations. 

Source: European Pravda; The decision was announced by the press service of the ECHR on 9 April 

In the Georgia v. Russia case (39611/18), the judges unanimously found that the borderisation on the border with the Russian-occupied territories of Georgia after the 2008 war had resulted in a series of human rights violations, in particular the right to life, the prohibition of inhuman treatment, the right to liberty and security, the right to respect for private life, the protection of property rights, the right to education and the right to free movement.

Georgia filed a lawsuit in August 2018 and argued that the actions of the Russian Federation created a situation of systemic violation of human rights: Many local residents lost the opportunity to see their relatives and attend relatives’ funerals, use their land and other property and study freely in Georgian schools. For many attempts to cross the demarcation line Georgians pay with detentions and beatings, long imprisonment and even their lives (such cases are known to happen regularly).

"The Court found that it had sufficient evidence, in particular lists of victims, testimonies, media reports and international material, to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the incidents alleged were not isolated and were sufficiently numerous and interconnected to amount to a pattern or 

system of violations," the court said in the communique. 

The judges also concluded that there are grounds to consider the Russian authorities' deliberate tolerance of such violations. 

As for compensation under Article 41 of the ECHR, the court unanimously decided that a decision on this issue is not yet ready. 

The decision was made by seven judges from Norway, Finland, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Croatia, Malta and Georgia. 

In April last year, the ECHR declared this application admissible.

Georgia applied three more complaints against Russia to the ECHR, and about 200 individual claims were applied against Russia, Georgia, or both states simultaneously regarding the events of the 2008 war and the borderisation process. These applications remain under consideration.

For reference: In 2021, the ECHR found that Russia is guilty of a number of human rights violations following the occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia but is not responsible for these regions during the Russian-Georgian war. In 2023, the court issued an additional decision in this case with the requirement for Russia to pay almost €130 million in compensation for the violations committed. 

Russia decided not to comply with ECHR decisions issued after 15 March 2022. However, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe stated that according to international law, Russia is still obliged to comply with the decisions of the ECHR taken against it.

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