What Georgia as a country considered just another dramatic process represented a personal tragedy for many of its citizens – in September of 2006, nine years ago, scores of Georgians were forcibly expelled from Russia. This was done in response to arrest of four Russian officers in Georgia on charges of spying on September 27.

For almost three months, ethnic Georgians all over the country were getting arrested and deported. Their rights were violated, their treatment was inhumane and three of them ended up dying in custody due to this.

In 2007, the Georgian side filed a lawsuit with the Strasbourg Court, demanding that Russia be forced to admit violation of human rights and pay compensation to the victims of illegal mass deportation.

On the 3rd of July 2015, exactly a year has passed since the “Georgia vs. Russia” case was resolved in Georgia’s favor. European Court of Human Rights has declared that Moscow should pay compensation to Georgia, citing that in autumn of 2006, 4 634 Georgians were illegally deported from Russia; several clauses of European Convention on Human Rights were thus violated. In addition, the court’s decision also contained mention of unlawful arrest and incarceration of 2 380 Georgians who were denied legal defense.

In turn, Russian government has denied all accusations, claiming that there were no repressions aimed at Georgians and it was simply taking measures against illegal immigrants. However, Moscow did admit having appropriate services send letters to schools with the purpose of getting Georgian students identified and profiled. Russian side’s arguments were deemed invalid by the court, however; instead, it chose to rely on data supplied by PACE Monitoring Committee and conclusions made by the local civil sector which have revealed that Russian government’s numerous services worked on deportation of Georgians in well-coordinated accord.

Georgia and Russia were given 12 months to reach consensus on the amount of compensation to be paid, but there were no negotiations held on that subject between the two parties so far. At the moment, only Georgia’s position is known: Russian government should pay Georgia 70 320 000 EUR in moral damages. Russian officials have not responded to this demand so far.

If Georgia and Russia eventually fail to agree on the amount of compensation in the time provided, the court will be forced to intervene into the matter. Georgian Justice Ministry attributes lack of communication on the issue to nonexistence of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The already overdue negotiations might get delayed even further by Russia’s possible departure from the Council. This, of course, will make the prospect of receiving compensation even more distant and vague. What will happen to this obligation if Russia leaves the Council of Europe? We have asked Levan Alapishvili, a lawyer, to answer this question for us:

“Before Europe resorts to compulsion and enforcement, positions of both parties on the issue need to be made clear. If it is established that Russia refuses to fulfill the obligation it was tasked with by the court, the issue will be relegated to the Committee of Ministers. This will be followed by discussion of sanctions to be imposed on Moscow. Therefore, the 12-month deadline will probably get extended, which is going to reduce the pressure of immediate decisions on Russia. Naturally, Europe will not allow the obligation to go unfulfilled, since this would mean absolving Russia of legal responsibility. I wouldn’t rule out the court itself trying to go for a compromise. Russia’s current geopolitical state is already on a very dangerous precipice, and many Russians themselves acknowledge that further withdrawal and isolation would be counter-productive for them.

We have heard many times of Russia planning to leave the Council of Europe, but we’ve never seen any actual motions that would back the allegations up. This is merely part of a political game in which Russia tries to create a certain atmosphere, but the methods they employ do not take them anywhere, much to their own chagrin. Personally, I still think that negotiations on the issue of compensation will begin this year. Russia might not pay Georgia 70 million euro as such, but it will have no choice but try to achieve a compromise.”

Author: Rusudan Shelia