2024-01-19 02:23:00
© Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The authorities of European States must immediately stop the transfer of refugees and asylum seekers from the North Caucasus to Russia, where they are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and could be forced to fight in Russia’s war of aggression in UkraineAmnesty International said in a new research paper published today.
Europe: The point of no return concludes that authorities in Croatia, France, Germany, Poland and Romania, among other countries, have attempted to extradite or expel, or have done so, asylum seekers who had fled persecution in the North Caucasus and were seeking asylum in the United States. of Europe, which means denying them the right to international protection. Entire communities have been accused of “dangerous extremism” and posing an existential threat to national security due to their religious and ethnic identity — the majority of the region’s inhabitants are Muslim and of Chechen, Dagestani, and Ingush origin, among other ethnicities. —and apparently that justifies their return to a region where their rights are in real danger.
“It is scandalous that several states in Europe are threatening to return people who fled persecution in Russia’s North Caucasus to the exact location where the abuses occurred, despite claims to have frozen all judicial cooperation with Russia after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. European countries must recognize that many people from that region could face arrest or kidnapping, torture, other ill-treatment or forced recruitment upon return,” said Nils Muiznieks, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe Regional Office.
“The situation faced by those who have fled the North Caucasus has radically worsened due to the increasing degradation of human rights standards in Russia since it invaded Ukraine. They could be subjected to torture, arbitrary detention and forced disappearance, without accountability in their countries of origin, and are historically stigmatized and subject to expulsion or extradition in the States of Europe.
The human rights situation in the North Caucasus is terrible, especially in Chechnya. Anyone who expresses critical opinions, is committed to human rights activism or is considered a member of the LGBTI community is at risk of being the target of attacks, as are their friends and family.
The already precarious human rights situation in Russia has worsened considerably since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The risk of torture and other ill-treatment, widespread in detention facilities before the invasion, has increased, and there are credible reports of a disproportionate mobilization of Russia’s ethnic minorities to join the armed forces. Those who reject or try to flee the mobilization are at risk of serious human rights violations.
An asylum seeker from Chechnya told Amnesty International: “They stop you on the street and you only have two options, go to prison for 10 years or go to the front. The prison in Chechnya… it’s like you cease to exist, but at least there is a chance to get out after 10 years. I think it’s better than going into the ranks, fighting and dying.”
Russia’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the crackdown on independent human rights monitoring efforts in the country have dramatically increased the danger of human rights abuses and deprived victims of an important means to hold accountable those who perpetrate crimes.
Many people from the North Caucasus, who fled the serious situation in their places of origin, are now at risk of deportation, extradition or return from European countries, which would constitute a violation of the principle of non-refoulement. The threat by States to return people to Russia is being carried out in a predominant context of discrimination and stigmatization in Europe towards the population of the North Caucasus, who are mostly Muslim. This danger has increased since Israel’s bombings in Gaza and the increasingly violent attacks, arrests and killings in the West Bank following the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7.
The prohibition of return due to risk of torture and other ill-treatment is absolute and does not allow for exceptions, including on national security grounds. The legal basis for transfers to Russia is often opaque or false, including the use of secret tips provided by security services and unfounded allegations from Russia itself, in particular those presented as “red notices”. ” from Interpol. Russia has exploited these notifications to attack political opponents, dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists and their families and collaborators. Some European states also accept inherently unreliable anti-torture “diplomatic assurances” from Russian authorities to justify the return of people from the North Caucasus. Such “assurances” from a country like Russia, where torture is endemic and the criminal justice system is regularly misused, are mere attempts to circumvent the absolute obligation of a State not to send anyone to places where would be at risk of egregious human rights violations.
The risk of expulsion from France to Russia has increased significantly following the fatal stabbing of a school teacher in Arras by a man from the North Caucasus on October 13, 2023. In the days after the Arras attack, President Macron called for a response ” relentless” against what he called “extremism,” with “particular attention to young men from the Caucasus between the ages of 16 and 25.” The President also authorized his Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to establish contacts with the Russian authorities about possible transfers. Plans are reportedly underway to deport up to 11 people to Russia.
France has a long history of cooperation with Russia on the issue of deportations of Chechens suspected of being “extremists.” In February 2022, Daoud Muradov, a young Chechen who France had expelled to Russia despite clear evidence that he would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, died in detention under suspicious circumstances. The French authorities not only expelled him, but also handed over to the Russian authorities details of his asylum application with the personal information of those who helped him flee, as well as that of his family.
France is not the only European government willing to send people to Russia, thus violating the principle of non-refoulement, that is, the absolute prohibition of sending people to places where they would be in danger of suffering serious abuses.
In Romania, national authorities detained Amina Gerikhanova, a Chechen asylum-seeking woman, in March 2022, alleging that she posed an alleged threat to national security. She had fled her home in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022. Romanian border guards separated her from her young son and detained her pending extradition based on an Interpol red notice. Russia. Only massive public outrage and the imposition of precautionary measures by the European Court of Human Rights could stop her extradition to Russia. Ultimately, Romania granted him asylum.
In 2017, Magomed Zubagirov fled persecution in his native Dagestan and settled in Ukraine with his wife, but in March 2022 he was forced to flee again due to Russia’s large-scale invasion. Despite his request for asylum at the Polish-Ukrainian border, Polish authorities denied him entry based on an Interpol red notice requested by Russia, and expelled him to that country.
“For some years now, European governments and institutions have ignored or downplayed the serious dangers faced by people returning to the North Caucasus. These dangers are now even greater and it is unacceptable to use the pretext of high tensions in the Middle East to justify the return of asylum seekers,” said Nils Muiznieks.
“European governments must immediately stop all transfers to Russia of people who are at risk of torture or other human rights violations; Furthermore, they must recognize that these dangers are now considerably greater for the people of the North Caucasus. “The protection needs of people in Europe must be fairly assessed in light of the poor human rights situation in Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
#return #people #Russia #stopped #due #risk #torture