Greece - Thrace Appeal Council, July 2005, Application No. 139/2005
| Country of Decision: | Greece |
| Country of applicant: | Azerbaijan |
| Court name: | Thrace Appeal Council |
| Date of decision: | 07-07-2005 |
| Citation: | 139/2005 |
Keywords:
| Keywords |
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Non-refoulement
Description
A core principle of international Refugee Law that prohibits States from returning refugees in any manner whatsoever to countries or territories in which their lives or freedom may be threatened. Note: The principle of non-refoulement is a part of customary international law and is therefore binding on all States, whether or not they are parties to the Geneva Convention. |
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Persecution (acts of)
Description
"Human rights abuses or other serious harm, often, but not always, with a systematic or repetitive element. Per Article 9 of the Qualification Directive, acts of persecution for the purposes of refugee status must: (a) be acts sufficiently serious by their nature or repetition as to constitute a severe violation of basic human rights, in particular the rights from which derogation cannot be made under Article 15(2) of the ECHR; or (b) be an accumulation of various measures, including violations of human rights which is sufficiently severe as to affect an individual in a similar manner as mentioned in (a). This may, inter alia, take the form of: acts of physical or mental violence, including acts of sexual violence; legal, administrative, police and/or judicial measures which are in themselves discriminatory or which are implemented in a discriminatory manner; prosecution or punishment, which is disproportionate or discriminatory; denial of judicial redress resulting in a disproportionate or discriminatory punishment; prosecution or punishment for refusal to perform military service in a conflict, where performing military service would include crimes or acts falling under the exclusion clauses in Article 12(2). " |
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Persecution Grounds/Reasons
Description
Per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention, one element of the refugee definition is that the persecution feared is “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion“. Member States must take a number of elements into account when assessing the reasons for persecution as per Article 10 of the Qualification Directive. |
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Protection
Description
A concept that encompasses all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and spirit of human rights, refugee and international humanitarian law. According to Article 2(a) of the Qualification Directive, international protection meansrefugee and subsidiary protection status as defined in (d) and (f). According to Recital 19 of the Qualification Directive “Protection can be provided not only by the State but also by parties or organisations, including international organisations, meeting the conditions of this Directive, which control a region or a larger area within the territory of the State”. According to Annex II of the Asylum Procedures Directive, in the context of safe countries of origin, protection may be provided against persecution or mistreatment by: “(a) the relevant laws and regulations of the country and the manner in which they are applied; (b) observance of the rights and freedoms laid down in the ECHR and/or the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and/or the Convention against Torture, in particular the rights from which derogation cannot be made under Article 15(2) of the said European Convention; (c) respect of the non-refoulement principle according to the Geneva Convention; (d) provision for a system of effective remedies against violations of these rights and freedoms. |
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Refugee Status
Description
The recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or stateless person as a refugee. |
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Political Opinion
Description
One of the grounds of persecution specified in the refugee definition per Article 1A ofthe1951 Refugee Convention. According to the Qualification Directive the concept of political opinion includes holding an opinion, thought or belief on a matter related to potential actors of persecution and to their policies or methods, whether or not that opinion, thought or belief has been acted upon by the applicant. |
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Real risk
Description
In order to be eligible for subsidiary protection, a third country national or stateless person must demonstrate that if returned to his or her country of origin, or in the case of a stateless person, to his or her country of former habitual residence, s/he would face a real risk of serious harm as defined in QD Art. 15 and that s/he is unable, or owing to such risk, unwilling to avail her/himself of the protection of that country. The fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or serious harm or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, is a serious indication of the applicant's well-founded fear of persecution or real risk of suffering serious harm, unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated. |
Headnote:
Rejection of an extradition request by Azerbaijan in a case where the wanted person had been recognised as a refugee by Germany. Azerbaijan's request for extradition because of acts contrary to common criminal law was a premise aimed at stifling the wanted person's political opposition to the extraditing country's government. Azerbaijan was requesting extradition for political reasons.
Facts:
The wanted person, Mr K.M., from Azerbaijan, had become very politically active in his country of origin. Specifically, from 1989 to 2000 he had been a member of the “POPULAR FRONT” party and a member of the “MÜSAVAT” party from 2000. In the presidential elections which took place on 15.10.2003, he was selected to be an observer on behalf of his party in order to ensure that the election was conducted properly. The opposing political group, led by Aliyev, emerged as victor in those elections; but the validity of the outcome of the elections was questioned by his party and by observers from international organisations thus causing political bitterness. From then on there was political persecution of members of the “MÜSAVAT” party (to which the person being sought belonged) and members of the party, including him, were arrested. As a consequence of that situation he fled his country and went to the Federal Republic of Germany where he submitted an application to be granted asylum. The application was accepted by a decision of the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees on 29.4.2004. Since that time Mr K.M. and his family had been living in Germany. More specifically, Mr K.M. was in possession of German travel documents for refugees and displaced persons, and a residence permit for that country. On 28.7.2005 a telex from the Greek Interpol National Central Bureau transmitted to the Thrace Appeal Prosecutor the 11.8.2004 telex from Interpol in Azerbaijan which submitted an application requesting that Mr K.M. be extradited and handed over to the relevant judicial authorities in Azerbaijan. He was to be prosecuted pursuant to an arrest warrant of 22.10.2003 for acts of hooliganism, disturbing public order and participation in similar activities, for resistance against authority, and for the use of violence. Before Thrace Appeal Council the requested person relied on his participation in the “POPULAR FRONT” and “MÜSAVAT” parties in Azerbaijan. He explained that on 15.10.03 he was selected as an observer on behalf of the party to ensure the proper conduct of the elections and, reportedly, the party of which he was a member had won and he celebrated the victory with the other members. During those celebrations they were attacked by their political rivals who had lost the election and trouble ensued. He finally fled Azerbaijan because Aliyev's rival political group was declared to be the victor and political persecution began. He was arrested and was forced to flee. When asked about the treatment that would await him if he were handed over to the authorities in his country, he told the Court that all his friends who had belonged to the political group of which he had been a member had been killed, and that he could expect a slow death.
The wanted person's status as a refugee recognised by the German authorities was confirmed by documents sent to the Court by the Federal Republic's Consul General in Thessaloniki and by the Advisor on Legal and Consular Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany's Embassy in Greece.
Decision & reasoning:
The Court held in principal that the extradition request from the Republic of Azerbaijan had correctly been introduced for hearing in accordance with the provisions of Articles 436(2) and 448 of the Criminal Procedure Code in combination with the provisions of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters which had been ratified by Greece and the extraditing state. Citing the provision of the final point in Article 438(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Court held that the extradition in question was being requested by the judicial authorities in Azerbaijan as a premise aimed at stifling the wanted person's political activities against the government in his country of origin. Evaluating the evidence put before it, the Court ruled that the extradition was being sought for political reasons.
The Thrace Appeal Council ruled in favour of rejecting the Republic of Azerbaijan's request for the extradition of Mr K.M.
Outcome:
The Thrace Appeal Council ruled in favour of rejecting the Republic of Azerbaijan's request for the extradition of Mr K.M.