London centre helps Russians bring human rights cases

The European Commission has granted a London university funding to help lawyers and others within the Russian Federation take cases to the European Court of Human Rights, especially over alleged abuses in Chechnya.

London Metropolitan University has launched the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, which will have a sole focus on Russia during the three years of initial commission funding but may in time seek to work across eastern Europe.

Centre director Philip Leach, a former legal director at human rights group Liberty, said the focus was on assisting individuals, lawyers and non-governmental organisations to take cases themselves.

The funding is paying for three lawyers in Moscow and five human rights fieldworkers in various regions of the Russian Federation.

Mr Leach said he intended to create a network of lawyers in the UK and elsewhere who could also assist.

Neil Rose