European Court to Hear Chechen Suits against Russian Army

In January 2003, the European Court of Human Rights declared admissible six applications from victims of the war in Chechnya against the Russian Federation Ð the first such admissibility decision on applications concerning the Chechnya war. The six applicants allege that Russian forces violated their and their relatives' right to life in several incidents such as bombing raids and summary executions during 1999 and 2000. These incidents were extensively documented by Human Rights Watch.