the Uzbek authorities the Government argued that the applicant would not be subjected to ill-treatment or punishment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention.
94. The applicant maintained that he had argued before the Russian courts that he faced a real risk of ill-treatment and political persecution in Uzbekistan. He had submitted reports on Uzbekistan by the UN institutions and international NGOs confirming that torture was widespread in detention facilities and that this information had not received proper assessment from the Russian authorities. He further maintained that the authorities had failed to take into account the information from the Russian Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees confirming that the risk of his being ill-treated in Uzbekistan was justified and substantiated. He pointed out that the courts had rejected his arguments without giving any reasons except a reference to the assurances given by the Uzbek authorities. Finally, he referred to a number of cases examined by the Court in which it had been established that extradition to Uzbekistan of a person sought for political crimes would constitute a violation of Article 3.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
95. The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
2. Merits
96. For a summary of the relevant general principles emerging from the Court's case-law see Mamatkulov and Askarov v. Turkey [GC], Nos. 46827/99 and 46951/99, §§ 66 - 70, ECHR 2005-I.
97. From the materials submitted by the parties it is clear that the applicant was arrested in Russia and subsequently detained at the request of the Uzbek authorities, who suspected him of a number of crimes, including an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order and membership of extremist organisations. The Russian authorities commenced extradition proceedings against him. Throughout the proceedings the applicant claimed that his extradition to Uzbekistan would expose him to a danger of ill-treatment. He also lodged an application for asylum, reiterating his fears of torture and persecution for political motives. He supported his submissions with reports prepared by UN institutions and international NGOs describing the ill-treatment of detainees in Uzbekistan. The Russian Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed that his fear of persecution and ill-treatment in Uzbekistan was justified and substantiated. The Russian authorities rejected his application for refugee status and ordered his extradition to Uzbekistan based on assurances from the Uzbek authorities and information received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the FSB (see paragraphs 26 - 29 above).
98. The Court's task is to establish whether there exists a real risk of ill-treatment in the event of the applicant's extradition to Uzbekistan. Since he has not yet been extradited owing to the indication by the Court of an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the material date for the assessment of that risk is that of the Court's consideration of the case. It follows that, although the historical position is of interest in so far as it may shed light on the current situation and its likely evolution, it is the present conditions which are decisive (see Chahal v. the United Kingdom, 15 November 1996, § 86, Reports 1996-V).
99. As regards the applicant's allegation that detainees suffer ill-treatment in Uzbekistan, the Court has recently acknowledged that a general problem still persists in that country in this regard (see, for example, Ismoilov and Others v. Russia, No. 2947/06, §§ 120 - 121, 24 April 2008, and Muminov v. Russia, No. 42502/06
> 1 2 3 ... 13 14 15 ... 20 21 22
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
