Journalists beaten up in Ingushetia appeal to ECtHR

Complaints on behalf of the journalists and human rights defenders, who suffered in an attack on the minibus of the Consolidated Mobile Group (CMG) in Ingushetia in March 2016, have been lodged to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Committee against Torture (CaT) has stated.

On March 9, 2016, in Ingushetia, near the border with Chechnya, an attack was committed on the CMG's minibus of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). Eight journalists and rights defenders, as well as the driver, were severely beaten up. For two years investigators refused to inform the victims and their advocate about the progress of the inquiry.

The victims demand to recognize the violation of their rights protected by three articles of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR): the prohibition of torture, the freedom of self-expression, and the right to an efficient investigation.

The attackers made it clear that their motive was in the professional activities of journalists and rights defenders. They were not interested in money and valuables, but they took away electronic data storage devices with information about human rights violations in Ingushetia and Chechnya, said Ekaterina Vanslova, a CaT's lawyer.

"We believe that Russian authorities are responsible for that attack," she has stated.

It is noted that two days before the attack, the victims were shadowed; law enforcers showed interest in them; and the attackers freely left for Chechnya.