The former general counsel of the dismantled OAO NK Yukos, Vasily Aleksanyan, became sick with AIDS and cancer the year after his 2006 imprisonment by Russia on politicized charges of fraud. Complaining of improper care, at the end of 2007 Aleksanyan won orders from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to be transferred to a specialized hospital. Russia grudgingly transferred him two months later, denied him access to his family, and handcuffed him to his bed. At the end of 2008, the ECHR found Russia liable for inhuman and degrading treatment, rebuked it for endangering Aleksanyan’s life by delaying his transfer, and ordered Russia (perhaps too vaguely) to end Aleksanyan’s detention. Russia released the ailing attorney, who is now nearly blind, only on condition of a $1.8 million bail, which his lawyer believes to be the largest in Russia’s history. “Technically, Russia abided by the ruling,” says Human Rights Watch researcher Tanya Lokshina, “but what happened ethically is unacceptable.”
The Aleksanyan case is a metaphor for Russia’s current relationship with the Strasbourg, France–based European Court of Human Rights and its 47-nation supervising body, the Council of Europe. Russia usually complies with the letter of European human rights law—but not always with its spirit.
