The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has decided not to additionally instruct Russia on the necessity of providing wounded Ukrainian sailors, who are prisoners of war (POW), with medical assistance, including medical assistance in special medical facilities, which Russian authorities must do based on the court’s decision of December 4, 2018, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry has said.
Ukraine’s Deputy Justice Minister and Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights Ivan Lishchyna on Facebook denied a statement by Russia’s Justice Ministry about the refusal of the ECHR to satisfy “the Ukrainian authorities’ request to apply new interim measures in the case of seizing Ukrainian Navy ships in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018.”
“Firstly, the ECHR does not have a case of ‘seizing the ships.’ Ukrainian sailors who were captured were illegally taken prisoner by Russian authorities and have rights. Ukraine’s Justice Ministry filed an interstate complaint against Russia. Secondly, on December 4, 2018, the ECHR at the request of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry, issued a decision on the application of preliminary measures under Rule 39 of the (ECHR) Rules of Court, ordering Russia’s government to ‘ensure that appropriate medical treatment be administered to those captive Ukrainian naval personnel who required it, including in particular any who might have been wounded,'” Lishchyna said, adding that on February 15 Ukraine’s Justice Ministry applied to the ECHR with an additional statement under Rule 39.
“We provided the court with additional information on the medical condition of three wounded sailors (in particular, documents received from the Ministry of Health) and drew the court’s attention to the fact that their transfer to Lefortovo [a prison in Moscow] cast doubt on the possibility of providing them with medical care in this institution. Ukraine’s government requested the court give instructions to Russia’s government to transfer the injured sailors to specialized medical institutions for further treatment,” Lishchyna said.
The ECHR in response noted the petition from the Ukrainian side conforms to the petition of Ukraine of November 28, 2018, and is covered by the guidelines on interim measures under Rule 39 provided by the ECHR on December 4, 2018.
“In other words, the court does not need to additionally indicate to the Russian authorities the need to provide the wounded sailors with appropriate medical care, including in specialized medical institutions. The Russian government should do this on its own, on the basis of a court decision on the introduction of interim measures under Rule 39 of December 4, 2018,” Lishchyna said, emphasizing that the Ukrainian government continues to monitor the medical condition of the POW sailors and will continue to inform the ECHR about the situation, especially given the fact that the Russian government apparently neglects its duty to provide the court with relevant information.”
Earlier, Russia’s Justice Ministry said the ECHR had notified them of the alleged refusal to satisfy the Ukrainian authorities’ request to apply new interim measures in the case of the detention of the Ukrainian naval ships by Russian border guards in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018.
