Ukraine: Chechen refugee at risk of Torture from Russia

The Ukrainian authorities are preparing to forcibly return 25-year-old ethnic Chechen refugee Lema Susarov to the Russian Federation, where he would be at risk of torture and other serious human rights violations.

Ukraine is a state party to the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention against Torture, each of which prohibits the return of anyone to a situation where they would be at risk of torture.

Lema Susarov was recognised as a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in 2006. According to the UNHCR, he arrived in Ukraine at the end of that year. The Russian Federation called for his extradition on 16 February, on charges of robbery(typical Russian lies), and he was detained in Ukraine on 20 July 2007.

Lema Susarov registered as an asylum-seeker in Ukraine with the Kyiv City Migration Service on 8 August 2007, although the decision to extradite him had been taken by the Office of the Prosecutor General on 27 July. Under international law, no recognised refugee or person seeking asylum may be forcibly returned to a situation where their life or freedom would be at risk. The Ukrainian authorities appear ready to ignore this, and return Lema Susarov to the Russian Federation. They have extradited registered asylum-seekers before now.

Background

Many Chechen men have been tortured and ill-treated by the Russian security forces to extract so called 'confessions'. Amnesty International and other human rights organisations working in the region are concerned that many Chechens in the Russian Federation have been charged with crimes such as participating in illegal armed groups or acts of terrorism, on the basis of such 'confessions', extracted under torture.

There are further allegations that trials of Chechen suspects have been flawed and have relied on fabricated evidence. The Chechen Ombudsperson for Human Rights, Nurdi Nukhazhiev, reportedly stated in February 2006 that a large number of the convicted Chechens in prison in Russia had been falsely accused and that the majority of their cases should be re-examined. So far, there have been almost no investigations leading to prosecutions of law enforcement officials for torture, which has created a climate of impunity in the region.

Help Lema

The Ukrainian authorities, who appear to be under increasing pressure from the Russian authorities, are making serious preparations to forcibly return Lema Susarov to Russia, where he would be in danger of torture. The head of the Ukrainian Security Service told an Amnesty International delegate on 29 September that « if we openly refuse Russia's request, they will [come into Ukraine and] remove the people regardless. »

Lema Susarov has been recognized as a refugee by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and has applied for asylum in Ukraine. He was arrested on 16 June by Ukrainian Security Service officers, following an extradition request from Russia. His lawyer appealed against the decision to detain him, but on 20 July Solomenskiy district Court in Kyiv ruled that it was legal to detain somebody if there had been an extradition request. The lawyer then
appealed against this decision to the Kyiv appeal court, but was unsuccessful. He appealed to the Pecherskiy district court against the extradition order, but the court refused to consider the issue on procedural grounds. On 28 September, the Kyiv appeal court ruled that the extradition could not be contested in a district court and that the matter would need to be referred to an administrative court.
The head of one of the departments of the Ukrainian Security Service told Amnesty International delegates during a meeting on 29 September that Ukraine would return refugees when asked to do so by the Russian Federation, even when it was pointed out to him that this would be in violation of Ukraine's obligations under international conventions
including the Refugee Convention and the Convention against Torture.

RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Ukrainian, Russian, English or your own language :

• urging the authorities to ensure that Lema Susarov is not forcibly returned to the Russian Federation, where he would be at risk of torture and other serious human rights violations ;

• reminding the authorities that Ukraine is a state party to the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention against Torture, both of which prohibit the return in any manner whatsoever of any person to a situation where they would be at risk of torture ;

• urging them to ensure that Lema Susarov is immediately released and handed over to the UNHCR to seek a durable solution to his situation.

APPEALS TO :

Viktor Yushchenko President of Ukraine Bankovaya Str. 11 01220 Kyiv Ukraine Fax : +380 44 255 71 61 Email :
postmaster@ribbon.kiev.ua Salutation : Dear President Yushchenko

Oleksandr Medvedko Prosecutor General Riznitska Str.13/15 01601 Kyiv Ukraine Fax : +380 44 280 2851
Salutation : Dear Prosecutor General

COPIES TO :
Yevhen Blazhivskyi Kyiv Prosecutor Predslavynska Str. 45/9 03150 Kyiv Ukraine Fax : +380 44 524 8258/8262
Salutation : Dear Prosecutor
Ambassade dUkraine av. Albert Lancaster30-32 Fax : 02.379.21.74 Fax : 02.379.21.79

Email :
embassy@ukraine.be

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sendingappeals after 15 November 2007.