## Facts

- Oxana Rantseva, a young Russian national, entered Cyprus in March 2001 on an “artiste” visa to work in a cabaret.
- After a few days, she left the cabaret and lodging, leaving a note indicating she intended to return to Russia.
- On 28 March 2001, the cabaret manager located her and brought her to a police station seeking her detention as an “illegal” immigrant.
- Police determined she had a valid permit, refused to detain her, and directed the manager to bring her to immigration authorities the next morning.
- The manager instead took her to a private apartment, where she was confined in a room while he remained positioned so as to control the exit.
- Within hours, she was found dead on the street below the apartment; physical evidence suggested a possible attempt to exit via the balcony.
- Cypriot authorities treated the death as an accident and did not establish criminal liability; Russian authorities later questioned the conclusions and sought further investigation.
- In 2004, her father applied to the European Court of Human Rights against Cyprus and Russia, alleging failures to protect her from trafficking-related harm and failures to investigate her alleged trafficking and death.
- Cyprus later maintained its accidental-death conclusion and declined further inquiry; Russia did not conduct a comprehensive investigation into recruitment and trafficking-related aspects connected to its territory.

## Issues

1. Whether human trafficking falls within the scope of ECHR Article 4 (prohibition of slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labor) and what positive obligations it imposes.
2. Whether Cyprus violated Articles 4 and 2 by failing to prevent trafficking-related harm, protect Ms Rantseva from a real and immediate risk, and effectively investigate alleged trafficking and her death.
3. Whether Russia violated Articles 4 and 2 by failing to investigate trafficking-related conduct linked to its territory and failing to take adequate investigative and cooperative steps.
4. Whether Cyprus violated Article 5 by unlawfully depriving Ms Rantseva of liberty through police conduct that placed her under the control of a private individual without legal basis and safeguards.

## Decision

- The Court held that trafficking in human beings falls within the ambit of Article 4.
- The Court found Cyprus violated Article 4 due to deficiencies in its anti-trafficking legal and administrative framework, failures to take protective operational measures, and failures to investigate potential trafficking.
- The Court found Cyprus violated Article 2 (procedural limb) due to an ineffective investigation into the circumstances of Ms Rantseva’s death.
- The Court found Cyprus violated Article 5 by unlawfully contributing to her deprivation of liberty when police effectively returned her to the manager’s control without lawful basis or safeguards.
- The Court found Russia violated Article 4 (procedural limb) by failing to conduct an adequate investigation into suspected trafficking and recruitment activities connected to Russia and by ineffective cooperation.
- The Court found Russia violated Article 2 (procedural limb) to the extent it failed to investigate death-related aspects within its jurisdiction.
- The Court declined to reach separate merits findings on certain additional complaints in light of its core findings and resolved just satisfaction by awarding non-pecuniary damages and costs.

## Legal Principles

- Human trafficking is prohibited under Article 4 and is treated as incompatible with human dignity and Convention values.
- Article 4 imposes positive obligations on States to:
  - establish an adequate legal and administrative framework to prevent and punish trafficking;
  - take operational measures to protect identifiable individuals when authorities know or ought to know of a credible suspicion of trafficking or a real and immediate risk;
  - conduct effective, independent investigations into situations of potential trafficking, initiated by the authorities when warranted.
- Article 2 requires an effective official investigation into suspicious or contested deaths capable of establishing the circumstances of death and identifying responsibility.
- Article 5 requires that any deprivation of liberty be lawful and protected by safeguards; State authorities may not, without legal basis, place an individual under the effective control of a private person in a manner that restricts liberty.
- Cross-border trafficking allegations can trigger investigative and cooperative duties for more than one State where relevant acts, recruitment, or evidence connect to each State’s jurisdiction.

## Conclusion

The Court treated trafficking as conduct covered by Article 4 and held that both Cyprus and Russia failed to meet Convention duties to prevent, protect, and investigate, while Cyprus also violated Article 2’s investigative duty regarding the death and Article 5’s requirement of lawful protection of liberty.


Rantsev v. Cyprus & Russia, App. No. 25965/04 (Eur. Ct. H.R. 2010)