ECHR ruling against Azerbaijan over the torture and killing of Major Hayk Toroyan becomes final
- Published
- Place
- Strasbourg, France
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
On 2 November the European Court of Human Rights rejected a request to refer a case to its Grand Chamber, a request Armenian lawyers say came from Azerbaijan. Its judgment of 18 June in V.T. and Others v. Azerbaijan is therefore final. The Court held Baku responsible for the torture and death of Hayk Toroyan, a major in the Armenian forces of Nagorno-Karabakh, killed on 2 April 2016, the first day of the “Four-Day War”. His vehicle was ambushed near the village of Talish; Azerbaijani servicemen tortured him and then beheaded him. The Court found violations of the right to life and of the prohibition of torture, as well as inhuman treatment of his family through the suffering caused to them. Azerbaijan must pay €90,000 to his parents and sister, plus €14,210 in costs.
Analysis
This is the European Court’s first judgment on abuses committed during the April 2016 war, and 21 similar applications are still pending: the precedent will weigh on how they are examined. Execution of the judgment will be supervised by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. Baku, whose agent rejected the Court’s findings in June, may refuse to pay. Individual applications by victims are not among the inter-state claims both countries pledge to withdraw under the peace treaty.
Possible consequences
The judgment is now enforceable: the Committee of Ministers will monitor payment of the compensation, and 21 other applications linked to the April 2016 war remain to be decided.
