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Abstract
This article explores contemporary Russian official and media discourse on cases concerning human rights violations in Chechnya which have been heard at the European Court of Human Rights. By comparing and contrasting the discourses on the Court's rulings which have been reproduced by various government representatives and various Russian newspapers, the article aims to demonstrate that, while official discourse remains critical of the Court's work with regard to Chechnya, reporting of such cases provides certain media outlets with the opportunity to criticise the government for its perceived failings in relation to safeguarding Chechnya's civilian population from human rights abuses.
Notes
1 ‘Zhitel’ Chechni vygral v Strasburge delo protiv Rossii’, BBC Russian Service, 20 January 2011, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2011/01/110120_chechnya_russia_strasbourg.shtml, accessed 1 December 2011.
2 ‘Chechen Gunmen Seize Moscow Theatre’, CNN.com, 24 October 2002, available at: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/23/russia.siege/index.html; ‘Russian School Siege Toll Tops 350’, CNN.com, 5 September 2005, available at: http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/04/russia.school/, accessed 4 August 2009.
3 ‘The Press in Russia’, BBC News, 16 May 2008, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4315129.stm, accessed 6 August 2009.
4Kommersant”, available at: http://www.kommersant.uk.com/, accessed 5 August 2009.
5 ‘The Press in Russia’, BBC News, 16 May 2008, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4315129.stm, accessed 6 August 2009.
6 ‘The Press in Russia’, BBC News, 16 May 2008, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4315129.stm, accessed 6 August 2009.
7 See for example, Politkovskaya (Citation2001a).
8 ‘Attacks on the Press 2002: Russia’, Committee to Protect Journalists, available at: http://cpj.org/2003/03/attacks-on-the-press-2002-russia.php, accessed 25 August 2009.
9 ‘Some 20,000 Cases Against Russia Pending in Strasbourg Court’, RIA Novosti, 15 May 2008, available at: http://en.rian.ru/world/20080515/107476496.html, accessed 27 August 2009.
10 ‘Analysis: Can Medvedev Find a “Systemic Solution” to Corruption?’, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 23 May 2008, available at: http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1117537.html, accessed 30 August 2009.
11 ‘Rossiya khochet perekryt’ chechentsam dorogu v Strasburgskii sud’, Newsru.com, 13 July 2009, available at: http://www.newsru.com/russia/13jul2009/stras.html, accessed 17 January 2012.
12Council of Europe, Reform of the European Court of Human Rights, available at: http://www.Council.int/T/E/Com/Files/Themes/CONVENTION/default.asp, accessed 31 August 2009.
13 ‘Russia Ratifies Protocol 14 on Human Rights Court Reform’, Russia Today, 15 January 2010, available at: http://rt.com/politics/russia-ratifies-protovol-14/print/, accessed 14 January 2012.
14 ‘Senior Russian Senator Lambasts European Court of Human Rights’, Interfax, 23 March 2009, available at: http://www.cdi.org/Russia/johnson/2009-58-29.cfm, accessed 27 August 2009.
15 ‘Russia Wants to Close Chechens’ Road to the Strasbourg Court’, NEWSru.com, 13 July 2009, available at: http://www.newsru.com/arch/russia/13jul2009/stras.html, accessed 27 August 2009.
16 ‘Senior Russian Senator Lambasts European Court of Human Rights’, Interfax, 23 March 2009, available at: http://www.cdi.org/Russia/johnson/2009-58-29.cfm, accessed 27 August 2009.
17 See for example ‘Swept Under: Torture, Forced Disappearances, and Extrajudicial Killings during Sweep Operations in Chechnya’, Human Rights Watch, 2 February 2002, available at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2002/02/02/swept-under-0, accessed 18 August 2009; ‘Worse Than a War’, Human Rights Watch, 21 March 2005, available at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/03/21/worse-war, accessed 18 August 2009; ‘What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You’, Human Rights Watch, 2 July 2009, available at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/02/what-your-children-do-will-touch-upon-you-0, accessed 18 August 2009.
18 See for example, ‘Russian Federation: What Justice for Chechnya's Disappeared’, Amnesty International, 23 May 2007, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR46/015/2007, accessed 18 August 2009; ‘No Progress in Chechnya Without Accountability’, Amnesty International, 17 April 2009, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/no-progress-chechnya-without-accountability-20090417, accessed 18 August 2009.
19 ‘Russian Rights Official Says NGO Law Could be Amended’, RIA Novosti, 17 July 2006, available at: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060717/51458067.html, accessed 18 August 2009.
20 ‘Russia “Ends” Chechnya Operation’, BBC News, 16 April 2009, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8001495.stm, accessed 8 August 2009.
21Izvestiya, 12 February 2009, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/444774, accessed 20 August 2009.
22Izvestiya, 24 September 2009, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/458921, accessed 15 Janurary 2010.
23Izvestiya, 5 February 2009, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/444254, accessed 20 August 2009.
24Izvestiya, 9 November 2006, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/387347, accessed 22 August 2009.
25 ‘20 Million Live in Poverty in Russia’, Kommersant”, 15 May 2008, available at: http://www.kommersant.com/p891767/poverty/, accessed 18 August 2009.
26 ‘Zhitelnitsa Chechni otsudila u Rossii 65 tys. Evro’, Izvestiya, 29 March 2007, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/396828, accessed 18 August 2009.
27 ‘Semya iz Chechni vygral v Strasburgskom sude delo protiv Rossii’, Izvestiya, 29 March 2007, available at: http://izvestia.ru/news/426314, accessed 18 August 2009.
28 ‘Human Rights Activists Accuse Russia of Torturing Guantanamo Prisoners’, Izvestiya, 29 March 2007, available at: http://www.Izvestiya.ru/news/news130769, accessed 18 August 2009.
29 ‘Russia/Chechnya—February 5: A Day of Slaughter in Novye Aldi’, Human Rights Watch, June 2000, available at: http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/russia_chechnya3/, accessed 13 August 2009.
30 ‘Glava Minyusta Rossii zasomnevalsya v obektivnosti Evropeiskogo suda’, Izvestiya, 27 February 2009, available at: http://www.Izvestiya.ru/news/445698, accessed 16 January 2012.
31 See for example, ‘What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You’, Human Rights Watch, 2 July 2009, available at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/02/what-your-children-do-will-touch-upon-you-0, accessed 18 August 2009; ‘Russian Federation: What Justice for Chechnya's Disappeared’, Amnesty International, 23 May 2007, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR46/015/2007, accessed 18 August 2009; ‘No Progress in Chechnya Without Accountability’, Amnesty International, 17 April 2009, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/no-progress-chechnya-without-accountability-20090417, accessed 18 August 2009.
32 ‘Human Rights Activists Accuse Russia of Torturing Guantanamo Prisoners’, Izvestiya, 29 March 2007, available at: http://www.Izvestiya.ru/news/news130769, accessed 18 August 2009.
33 See for example Freedom House (2011) Freedom of the Press 2011, available at: http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTP%202011%20Global%20%26%20Regional%20Rankings.pdf, accessed 26 August 2013; Freedom House (2013) Freedom of the Press 2013, available at: http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Global%20and%20regional%20tables.pdf, accessed 26 August 2013.