Click here for Judgment (approximately 63 pages); click here for press release (approximately 5 pages)

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the Janoweic and Others v. Russia case brought by relatives of victims the Katyń massacre—the killing of more than 20,000 prisoners of war in the wake of the Red Army’s invasion of Poland in 1939—who argued that Russia had not carried out an effective investigation into their relatives’ deaths while displaying a dismissive attitude towards their requests for information.  The Court first found that it was not competent under Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human rights to examine the adequacy of an investigation into events occurring before the Convention began its existence in 1950.  The Court also held that there was no violation of Article 3 (prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment) because the death of the prisoners of war had become established historical fact by the time Russia adopted the Convention.  However, the Court ruled that Russia had failed to furnish necessary facilities for examination of the case, pursuant to Article 38, when it failed to provide the Court with a 2004 top-secret classified decision to discontinue the Katyń investigation.