TUKHTAMURODOV v. RUSSIA
Inadmissible
Dmitry Dedov;Elisabeth Steiner;Erik Møse;Khanlar Hajiyev;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Ksenija Turković
1. The applicant, Mr Bobirzhon Baratovich Tukhtamurodov, is an Uzbek national. He was represented before the Court by Ms E. Davidyan, a lawyer practising in Moscow. 2. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. The applicant was born in 1975 and lives in Novosibirsk. He is not currently in detention. 5. On 20 April 2010 the Uzbek authorities charged the applicant with participating in an extremist organisation of a religious nature (Nurchilar) and distributing material containing religious extremist ideas. On 22 April 2010 the Bukharskiy Town Court in Uzbekistan ordered the applicant’s arrest. The Uzbek authorities put the applicant’s name on the international list of wanted individuals. On an unspecified date in January 2010 the applicant fled to Russia, fearing both prosecution and persecution on religious grounds by the Uzbek authorities. 6. On 18 August 2010 the applicant was arrested in Novosibirsk, Russia in connection with criminal proceedings pending against him in Uzbekistan. He was placed in a temporary detention facility in Novosibirsk. 7. On 24 September 2010 the applicant requested refugee status in the Russian Federation. 8. On 25 November 2010 the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia ordered the applicant’s extradition to Uzbekistan. 9. On 9 March 2011 the Federal Migration Service (“FMS”) in Novosibirsk denied the applicant’s request for refugee status. 10. On 23 March 2011 the Novosibirsk Regional Court overturned the Prosecutor General’s decision to extradite the applicant, terminated the extradition proceedings against him and ordered his immediate release from detention. 11. On 26 May 2011 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the judgment of the Novosibirsk Regional Court on appeal. The appeal court held, inter alia, that the Russian Federation may refuse the extradition of an individual if there are serious grounds for believing that the individual would be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the country that is requesting extradition. The court also held that the Prosecutor General’s decision to extradite the applicant had lacked sufficient guarantees regarding the applicant’s safety in the event of his extradition to Uzbekistan. 12. On 2 June 2011 the FMS in Novosibirsk examined a request from the applicant for temporary asylum. It studied in detail the applicant’s allegations concerning torture and ill-treatment whilst in police custody in Uzbekistan, which had been applied in order to force a confession from him. Moreover, the FMS in Novosibirsk also reviewed the applicant’s submissions concerning similar criminal prosecutions of his relatives and neighbours and the ensuing persecution of him after his release from detention. In particular, the applicant contended that two of his relatives and five of his neighbours had been convicted of being members of the extremist religious organisation. In addition, the applicant submitted that the authorities had pressured him to make a written denial ‒ on a weekly basis ‒ of his allegiance to the extremist religious organisation. They also questioned him on the activities of the organisation. When he found out that his brother had been forced to testify against him, he decided to flee to Russia, fearing further repercussions. The FMS in Novosibirsk found the applicant’s allegations substantiated and granted the applicant’s request for temporary asylum. Afterwards, the applicant withdrew his appeal against the earlier decision by the FMS in Novosibirsk not to grant him refugee status. 13. On 31 May 2012 the FMS in Novosibirsk granted the applicant’s request to have his temporary asylum status renewed for one more year, until 2 June 2013. 14. In the meantime, the applicant applied for temporary residence status in Russia. However, on 30 April 2013 the FMS in Novosibirsk denied the applicant’s request. Two months later the FMS Russia upheld this decision, citing unspecified security reasons as justification. 15. On 21 May 2013 the FMS in Novosibirsk refused the applicant’s request for renewal of his temporary asylum status relying ‒ inter alia ‒ on information received from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) stating that the applicant’s presence in Russia had been deemed undesirable. The exact nature of the information remained undisclosed. The applicant appealed to Russia’s FMS concerning the refusal. In his appeal complaint, the applicant reiterated that the reasons behind the staying of his expulsion had not ceased to exist. He also submitted that the information obtained from the FSB had not been made known to him and, in any event, it would not have justified the termination of his temporary asylum status or his expulsion because the law contained no corresponding provision. 16. On 10 December 2013 the FMS of Russia upheld the decision of the FMS in Novosibirsk. It cited the procedural steps taken in the applicant’s case but did not evaluate his situation and arguments in detail. It also relied mainly on undisclosed information obtained from the FSB and found that no humanitarian grounds existed that would permit renewal of the applicant’s temporary asylum status. 17. On 24 February 2014 the FMS in Novosibirsk sent a letter to the applicant informing him that he would be deported should he fail to leave the territory of Russia of his own volition. 18. On 18 March 2014 the Basmanny District Court of Moscow refused the applicant’s request to have his temporary asylum status renewed and upheld the FMS decision issued on 10 December 2013. 19. On 1 July 2014, following the application of interim measures under Rule 39 by the Court, the Prosecutor of the Novosibirsk Region sought a court order to compel the FMS in Novosibirsk to renew the applicant’s temporary asylum status. No information is available regarding the outcome of these proceedings. 20. On 28 July 2014 the Moscow City Court heard the applicant’s case on appeal. The outcome of these proceedings remains unclear. 21. On 9 October 2014 the Government informed the Court that on 4 September 2014 the FMS in Novosibirsk had granted the applicant temporary asylum in Russia until 4 September 2015 on humanitarian grounds. 22. According to the text of the decision of the FMS in Novosibirsk, the applicant sought temporary asylum in Russia after the European Court of Human Rights had applied interim measures staying his removal in the light of the risk of ill-treatment in Uzbekistan. The FMS in Novosibirsk then noted that dynamic political and social reforms had been taking place in Uzbekistan since 2003. However, it also mentioned the incidents of human rights violations in the country. In particular, it referred to current authoritative human rights reports on ill-treatment of suspects in custody in Uzbekistan. Noting that the applicant remained on the wanted persons list, the FMS in Novosibirsk found that as a suspect, he might indeed be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Uzbekistan and therefore granted his request for temporary asylum in Russia. 23. For a summary of the relevant general provisions of the Refugees Act of Russia (Law no. 4258-I of 19 February 1993), see Kasymakhunov v. Russia, no. 29604/12, §§ 83-86, 14 November 2013. 24. The Refugees Act (the Act) provides that a person who has been granted temporary asylum status cannot be returned against his will to the country of his nationality or to the country of his former habitual residence (section 12 § 4 of the Act). 25. The temporary asylum status may be terminated if (i) the circumstances generating eligibility for such temporary asylum cease to exist; (ii) the temporary asylum holder obtains permanent resident status in Russia or becomes a citizen of Russia or of another state; (iii) the temporary asylum holder resettles outside Russia (section 12 § 5 of the Act). 26. The temporary asylum status may be revoked as a result of (i) the conviction of the temporary asylum holder of a crime committed by him or her in Russia; (ii) the submission by the temporary asylum holder of false information on his or her application for temporary asylum; (iii) the imposition of an administrative sanction on the temporary asylum holder for a drug-related offence (section 12 § 6 of the Act). 27. The Rules on Temporary Asylum Status (the Rules) enacted by the Government of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Refugees Act (decree No. 274 of 9 April 2004) provide that temporary asylum may be granted for a period of up to one year and may be renewed annually at the request of a person seeking temporary asylum who can also provide reasons for such renewal (section 12 § 1 of the Rules). The request for renewal should be submitted no later than one month prior to the expiry of the person’s current temporary asylum status (section 12 § 2 of the Rules). 28. Under Article 254 § 1 and Article 255 of the Russian Code of Civil Procedure a person can bring civil judicial proceedings against an official decision which, in his or her opinion, has an adverse effect on his rights and freedoms.