EU is concerned with non-fulfillment of ECHR judgment in Ilascu case
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has resumed the debates on executing the European Court of Human Rights’ decision in the case of “Ilascu and others versus Moldova and the Russian Federation”.
According to a press release of the Foreign Ministry in Chisinau, the Moldovan delegation thanked the states that showed constantly their interest and support in finding a speedy solution to this case. In the context, the Russian delegation was called on to closely cooperate with a view to releasing the two detainees, taking into account the influence that Kremlin exerts on the separatist regime in Tiraspol.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, any failure in executing the ECHR decisions can not be justified, it being a voluntary commitment assumed by all the member states of the Council of Europe.
The Finish Delegation, on behalf of the EU Chairmanship, reiterated the EU’s concerns related to the non-fulfillment of the case and called on the defendant states to take all the necessary measures to immediately set free Andrei Ivantoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa, according to the ECHR decision. Finland also mentioned that the Russia’s delay in executing the given decision affects the image of this country in front of the EU Council of Ministers, as well as the credibility of the entire system of protection of human rights.
Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Georgia have joined the EU declaration. The Russian Federation failed to express its stance.
ECHR pronounced its judgment in the case of Ilascu on 8 July 2004, urging the two condemned states to take the necessary measures to end to the arbitrary imprisonment of the incarcerated plaintiffs and to ensure their immediate release. To date, both Moldova and Russia fulfilled only the commitment to pay damages.
On March 1, 2006, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a new temporary resolution, the third one regarding the ECHR decision in the case of “Ilascu and others versus Russia and Moldova".