The ECHR will hear the case of ten Ukrainian children abducted by the occupying forces

The European Court of Human Rights has scheduled oral hearings in the case of ten Ukrainian children whom Russia effectively abducted following the occupation of Crimea in 2014. Human rights activists call this an exceptional procedural development, as such hearings are scheduled outside the Grand Chamber only in rare cases.

This was reported by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU).

The ECHR will consider a petition regarding ten Ukrainian children who were in children’s institutions on the peninsula at the time of the occupation of Crimea. After Russian control was established, they were forcibly granted Russian citizenship, placed for adoption with Russian families, and their current whereabouts remain unknown.

The applicants are represented by attorney Serhiy Zayets, an expert with the UHHRU, and lawyers from the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).

According to Serhiy Zayets, most cases before the ECHR are considered solely on the basis of written materials, so the scheduling of oral hearings indicates the particular importance of this case.

In addition, the European Court has already exchanged written communications with the parties on two occasions, which is also an atypical practice. During the second round, the court specifically asked whether the fact of the unlawful deprivation of the children’s liberty from 2014 to 2022 had been proven, and whether Russia had violated its obligations by refusing to provide information on the children’s whereabouts.

The complaint is based on Articles 5 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantee the right to liberty and respect for private and family life. Separately, the applicants point to a violation of Article 38 of the Convention due to Russia’s refusal to comply with the ECHR’s request for information about the children.

The human rights organization emphasizes that the ECHR’s upcoming decision could set an important legal precedent and serve as an additional argument in international efforts to hold Russia accountable for the illegal removal and forced change of identity of Ukrainian children.

Recently, childrenfrom the KhersonOrphanage, who were illegally taken away by Russian military personnel in 2022, were found on a Russian state-run adoption portal.

As previously reportedby Intent, Yale University published a study on the involvement of Russian state-owned companies Gazprom and Rosneft in the deportation and “re-education” of Ukrainian children.

It should be recalled that aUNinternational commission concluded that Russia’s removal of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories constitutes a crime against humanity. Furthermore, the commission considers the delay in their return to Ukraine to be a war crime. 

Андрій Колісніченко