Published on 31 January 2022
FIFTH SECTION
Application no. 39553/16
Yelena Mikhaylovna VYACHESLAVOVA against Ukraine
and 7 other applications
(see list appended)
communicated on 14 January 2022
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The present cases concern a massive violent confrontation between the “pro-Euromaidan” and “anti-Euromaidan” activists that took place in Odesa on 2 May 2014. On that day the anti-Euromaidan activists, who opposed the recent ousting of President Yanukovych from power as a result of the protest movement known as “Euromaidan” (or “Maidan”), clashed with the pro‑Euromaidan activists, who were holding a rally in support of those changes.[1] Forty-eight persons were reported dead and over two hundred injured in connection with the relevant events. Several sets of criminal proceedings were instituted into the events, most of them currently ongoing.
The present cases were lodged by thirty-one applicants who either lost a relative or sustained injuries in the aforesaid confrontation, as participants on either side or by-standers. The applicants whose relatives were killed allege that the State authorities had failed to protect their lives and the applicants who suffered injuries allege that they had failed to protect them from ill‑treatment. All applicants further allege that the investigation of the relevant circumstances has been ineffective and that they had suffered extreme anguish and distress on account of the manner in which the authorities handled the investigation and treated them in its course. They refer to Articles 2 or 3 in this respect. Some applicants who filed civil claims within the framework of the ongoing criminal proceedings also complain about their length, invoking Article 6 of the Convention. One applicant additionally invokes Article 8 of the Convention complaining of a delay in handing her the body of her deceased father for burial. Finally, all the applicants complain, under Article 13 of the Convention, that they had no effective remedies for their complaints concerning either death of their relatives or injuries sustained by them personally on 2 May 2014.
According to the material presented by the applicants, the confrontation started near Hretska Square in the city centre, when anti-Euromaidan activists attacked the participants of a pro-Euromaidan rally. Six persons, including relatives of some of the applicants,[2] died as a result of gunfire injuries sustained during the ensuing street battles in the vicinity of the Hretska Square. Subsequently, the prevailing pro-Euromaidan activists arrived at their opponents’ encampment at Kulykove Pole Square and started destroying and torching their tents. By that time numerous anti‑Euromaidan activists had barricaded themselves in a five-storey Trade Union Building facing the square and both parties exchanged shots and Molotov cocktails. A fire broke out in the Trade Union Building, which took the lives of thirty-four persons, including relatives of some of the applicants.[3]
Eight persons, including relatives of some of the applicants[4], were killed when falling from the burning building either in attempts to escape, or as a result of falling or being pushed out of the windows.
The remaining applicants sustained burns and other injuries.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
The applicants are requested to provide copies of identification documents indicating the correct spelling of their names in the official language of the country of nationality.
1. Has the respondent State complied with its positive obligation to protect the life of the applicants’ deceased relatives, as required by Article 2 of the Convention?
In particular, have the competent authorities taken all the steps that could have been reasonably expected from them
(a) to prevent a violent confrontation between the pro-Euromaidan and anti-Euromaidan activists in Odesa on 2 May 2014 (all applications)?
(b) to halt the violence after the confrontation had begun (all applications)?
(c) to prevent the eruption and the spread of the fire in the Trade Union Building, to have it extinguished, and/or to evacuate the persons inside (applications nos. 39553/16, 52632/16, 53467/16, 59339/17, 47092/18, and 2467/19)?
2. Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life (see paragraph 104 of Salman v. Turkey [GC], no. 21986/93, ECHR 2000-VII), was the investigation of the deaths of the applicants’ relatives in the present case by the domestic authorities such as to meet the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention (all applications)?
3. Considering the physical injuries suffered by Mr Y. Didenko, Mr S. Dmitriyev, and Mr A. Gerasimov on 2 May 2014, has the respondent State defaulted on its positive obligation under Article 3 of the Convention to protect them from ill‑treatment (application no. 59339/17)?
4. Having regard to procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment (see paragraph 131 of Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, ECHR 2000-IV), was the investigation of the complaints concerning the alleged ill‑treatment on 2 May 2014 lodged by Mr Y. Didenko, Mr S. Dmitriyev, and Mr A. Gerasimov in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (application no. 59339/17)?
5. Have the applicants been subjected to ill-treatment within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the manner, in which the authorities handled the investigation and treated them in its course (all applications)?
6. Has the length of the criminal proceedings, in which the applicants acted as civil claimants, been in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (applications nos. 52632/16; 53467/16; 59339/17; 76896/17; and 2467/19)?
7. Has there been a breach of either Article 3 or Article 8 of the Convention on account of the complaint lodged by Mrs Y. Vyacheslavova concerning a delay in handing her father’s body for burial (application no. 39553/16)?
8. Did the applicants whose relatives were killed on 2 May 2014 have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 2, as required by Article 13 of the Convention (all applications)?
9. Did Mr Y. Didenko, Mr S. Dmitriyev, and Mr A. Gerasimov have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their complaints under Article 3 concerning the State’s failure to protect them from ill-treatment suffered on 2 May 2014, as required by Article 13 of the Convention (application no. 59339/17)?
APPENDIX
Application no.
Case name Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Residence
Nationality
Applicant injured/ Relative killed
Relevant circumstances
Represented by
39553/16
Vyacheslavova v. Ukraine
27/06/2016
Yelena Mikhaylovna VYACHESLAVOVA
1976
Odesa
Ukrainian
Mikhail Mikhaylovich VYACHESLAVOV
father
Trade Union Building
Yuliya LISOVA
Lawyer practicing in Kyiv
Mykhaylo TARAKHKALO
Lawyer practicing in Kyiv
52632/16
Berezovska v. Ukraine
26/08/2016
Neonila Leonidivna BEREZOVSKA
1953
Odesa
Ukrainian
Leonid Viktorovych BEREZOVSKYY
son
Trade Union Building
Anatoliy POPOV
Lawyer practicing in Kyiv
53467/16
Brygar v. Ukraine
26/08/2016
Olena Borysivna BRYGAR
1979
Kalagliya
Ukrainian
Volodymyr Anatoliyovych BRYGAR
spouse
Trade Union Building
Anatoliy POPOV
Lawyer practicing in Kyiv
59339/17
Babushkina and Others v. Ukraine
04/08/2017
Olga Vladimirovna BABUSHKINA
1981
Odesa
Ukrainian
Lyudmila Leonidovna BRYGAR
1962
Nadbuske
Ukrainian
Yuriy Vladimirovich DIDENKO
1968
Serpukhov
Ukrainian
Sergey Nikolayevich DMITRIYEV
1975
Tayirove
Ukrainian
Aleksandr Vikrorovich GERASIMOV
1978
Odesa
Ukrainian
Tatyana Sergeyevna KOVRIGA
1945
Odesa
Ukrainian
Irina Yevgenyevna LUKAS
1961
Odesa
Ukrainian
Marianna Ivanovna MISHINA
1985
Koblevo
Ukrainian
Aleksandr Vitalyevich NEGATUROV
1965
Odesa
Ukrainian
Vitaliy Yuryevich PETROV
1956
Odesa
Ukrainian
Irina Pavlovna PIDORICH
1976
Odesa
Ukrainian
Yelena Aleksandrovna RADZIKHOVSKAYA
1954
Odesa
Ukrainian
Valentina Petrovna YAKHLAKOVA
1940
Odesa
Ukrainian
Anatoliy Andreyevich KALIN
spouse
Trade Union Building
Volodymyr Anatoliyovych BRYGAR
son
see above
survivor
sustained burns and other injuries
survivor
sustained burns and other injuries
survivor
sustained burns and other injuries
Nikolay Sergeyevich KOVRIGA
son
Trade Union Building
Igor Yerolovich LUKAS
son
Trade Union Building
Sergey Sergeyevich MISHIN
spouse
Trade Union Building
Vadim Vitalyevich NEGATUROV
brother
Trade Union Building
Anna Anatolyevna VERENIKINA
spouse
Trade Union Building
Nina Ivanovna LOMAKINA
mother
Trade Union Building
Andrey Gennadyevich BRAZHEVSKIY
son
falling from height
Petr Anatolyevich KAIR
son
Trade Union Building
Stichting
Justice Initiative, Utrecht, Netherlands
Egbert WESSELINK
Chairman of the Board
59531/17
Biryukova and Others v. Ukraine
04/08/2017
Lyudmila Ivanovna BIRYUKOVA
1946
Odesa
Ukrainian
Vladimir Ivanovich IVANOV
1952
Bilgorod -Dnistrovskyy
Ukrainian
Lyubov Petrovna IVANOVA
1956
Bilgorod -Dnistrovskyy
Ukrainian
Andrey Vasilyevich BIRYUKOV
son
city centre clashes firearm injuries
Igor Vladimirovich IVANOV
son
city centre clashes firearm injuries
Igor Vladimirovich IVANOV
son
see above
Stichting
Justice Initiative
Utrecht, Netherlands Egbert WESSELINK
Chairman of the Board
76896/17
Gorenko and Others v. Ukraine
24/10/2017
Yevgeniya Viktorovna GORENKO
1978
Odesa
Ukrainian
Vladislav Nikolayevich YAVORSKIY
2009
Odesa
Ukrainian
Viktor Nikolayevich YAVORSKIY
2011
Odesa
Ukrainian
Alena Anatolyevna YAVORSKAYA
1973
Odesa
Ukrainian
Raisa Igorevna ZHULKOVA
1941
Odesa
Ukrainian
Irina Georgiyevna PETROVA
1954
Odesa
Ukrainian
Nikolay Anatolyevich YAVORSKIY
spouse
city centre clashes firearm injuries
Nikolay Anatolyevich YAVORSKIY
father
see above
Nikolay Anatolyevich YAVORSKIY
father
see above
Nikolay Anatolyevich YAVORSKIY
brother
see above
Aleksandr Yuryevich ZHULKOV
son
city centre clashes firearm injuries
Gennadiy Igorevich
PETROV
son
city centre clashes firearm injuries
Stichting
Justice Initiative
Utrecht, Netherlands
Egbert WESSELINK
Chairman of the Board
Andriy KARKISHCHENKO
Lawyer practicing in Odesa
47092/18
Marikoda and Others v. Ukraine
01/10/2018
Tamara Petrovna MARIKODA
1945
Odesa
Russian
Yevgeniy Ivanovich MILEV
1980
Odesa
Ukrainian
Lyudmila Vasilyevna NIKITENKO
1960
Odesa
Russian
Ivan Ivanovich MILEV
son
Trade Union Building
Ivan Ivanovich MILEV
brother
Trade Union Building
Maksim Alekseyevich NIKITENKO
son
falling from height
Stichting
Justice Initiative
Utrecht, Netherlands Egbert WESSELINK
Chairman of the Board
Andriy KARKISHCHENKO
Lawyer practicing in Odesa
2467/19
Kushnaryov and Others v. Ukraine
11/12/2018
Oleksandr Vitaliyovych KUSHNARYOV
1953
Odesa
Ukrainian
Nataliya Gennadiyivna KUSHNARYOVA
1954
Odesa
Ukrainian
Fatima Raveyevna PAPURA
1974
Odesa
Ukrainian
Yelena Aleksandrovna RADZIKHOVSKAYA
1954
Odesa
Ukrainian
Gennadiy Oleksandrovych KUSHNARYOV
son
Trade Union Building
Gennadiy Oleksandrovych
KUSHNARYOV
son
see above
Vadym Vadymovych PAPURA
son
falling from height
Andrey Gennadyevich BRAZHEVSKIY
son
Falling from height
Andriy KARKISHCHENKO
Lawyer practicing in Odesa
[1] For more information, see, in particular, Report of the International Advisory Panel of the Council of Europe https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168048851b
[2] See details in the Appendix below
[3] See details in the Appendix below
[4] See details in the Appendix below