Timishev v. Russia

Racial Profiling by the Police

Racial profiling by police and security forces has long been a problem in Russia, particularly in the  republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. The outbreak of the war in 1994 led to an increase in profiling of Chechens and other ethnic Caucasians, particularly Ingushes. In the Caucasus region, ethnic profiling frequently occurred through disproportionate stop and detention of individuals of non-Slavic origin in roadblocks on the national highways. Without a clear legal basis or a legitimate purpose, these restrictions formed a pattern  of arbitrary and discriminatory vehicle stops on the basis of the occupants’ perceived ethnicity. The north Caucus remains to be a volatile region, in which the practice of ethnic profiling at borders continues to persist. 

Facts

Ilyas Yakubovich Timishev is a lawyer of Chechen ethnicity who lived close to Nalchik—the capital of Kabardino Balkariya, the republic bordering Chechnya. Although Timishev and his family were forced to move because of the war in Chechnya, he still traveled frequently on the highway between Nalchik and Grozny, the Chechen capital. He was repeatedly stopped at checkpoints and, on one occasion, was forced to abandon his car and complete his journey by hitchhiking. This was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of ethnic profiling of Chechens, Ingushes and other Caucasians by Russian police.

The traffic checkpoint system in the North Caucasus emerged in 1991, in particular between the cities of Nalchik and Grozny, after General Dzhkokhar Dudayev was elected president of Chechnya and declared Chechnya’s independence from the Russian Federation. In 1994, the eruption of military conflict between Moscow and Grozny prompted the Russian government to increase the number of checkpoints and controls along the Nalchik-Grozny roads. IN 2008, there were 21 checkpoints along these roads.

Timishev’s frequent trips on the highway between Nalchik and Grozny often lead to humiliating circumstances, extreme inconvenience, and the risk of more serious harm. He states that a journey that used to take two hours now takes up to twice that long, based solely on his ethnicity.

In September 2008, the Open Society Justice Initiative undertook scientific testing on the two roads from Nalchik to Grozny in order to determine whether individuals of Chechen ethnicity were treated differently from individuals of other ethnicities. Employing a methodology often used to measure discriminatory profiling against a minority or ethnic group, researchers placed minority and non-minority subjects in an identical situation to isolate any difference in treatment. The testing was carried out using three different vehicles, two with Chechen license plates with Chechen and Ingush passengers, and one with Kabardino-Balkarian plates with Russian passengers. The participants kept a log noting the details of their journey and described how they were treated after officers at the checkpoints saw their vehicle registration and their identity documents.

The results demonstrated a pronounced difference in treatment based on driver ethnicity. The trip between Nalchik and Grozny took longer for vehicles with Chechen plates. The two Chechen vehicles were both stopped and searched by police more often than the Russian vehicle. All Chechen subjects indicated that police made derogatory racial remarks during the encounters. Police also checked documents on every occasion for Chechen/Ingush passengers, but checked on only three occasions out of the five stops of the Kabardian vehicle. Strikingly, the average stop took 13 minutes for the Kabardian vehicle, but 32 minutes and 41 minutes respectively for the two Chechen cars.

It is clear from the data that highway police operating between Nalchik and Grozny practice ethnic profiling, disproportionately stop vehicles with Chechen plates and detain stopped drivers for protracted investigation, despite a clear lack of any legitimate police or security purpose.

Open Society Justice Initiative Involvement

The Justice Initiative acts as counsel for Timishev before the European Court of Human Rights.

Arguments

The application argues that the checkpoint system on the highway between Grozny and Nalchik, and the ethnic profiling practiced by the police and security forces at these checkpoints violates the European Convention.

Unlawful restriction of movement. The restrictions imposed by the checkpoint system are arbitrarily applied and serve no legitimate purpose, in violation of the right to freedom of movement (Article 2, Protocol 4).

Discrimination. Ethnic profiling of Chechens and Ingushes at highway checkpoints between Nalchik and Grozny violates the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14) in conjunction with freedom of movement.