activists, former PKK operatives and officials, and Islamic militants in exile in Europe.230 Governments of member states—particularly those in favor of Turkey’s accession to the E.U.—inclined toward honoring these extradition requests must take into consideration the continuing use of torture and ill-treatment against Kurds and PKK members, and the individual circumstances of any person subject to return to Turkey.231 In doing so, E.U. member states must comply with their absolute obligation not to send any person, no matter what their past crimes or current status, to a country where she or he would still face a risk of torture and ill-treatment. Austria Case of Akhmed A. The acceptance of general assurances of protection against torture was also an issue in the case of Akhmed A., a citizen from Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, extradited in February 2004 from Austria to Russia.232 The case also raises the troubling issue of the nexus between extradition and asylum as A. was extradited while his asylum claim in Austria was still pending. Akhmed A. applied for asylum in Austria in February 2001, claiming that he would suffer persecution if returned. The claim was based on his ethnic origin (Kumücke) and prior ill-treatment suffered in detention in Moscow in 1995 based on accusations that he had assisted Chechen rebels while working for the police in Dagestan near the Chechen border.233 His first claim was denied in June 2001, but A. lodged an appeal with the Independent Federal Asylum Review Board. In May 2003, while that appeal was still pending, Austrian authorities detained A. based on a Russian extradition request to face charges of abducting members of the Russian military and illegal weapons possession.234 230 See, for example, appeal on behalf of Remzi Kartal from Human Rights House, Oslo, Norway [online] http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=2956 (retrieved February 28, 2005). Kartal, an official of Kongra-Gel, was detained in Germany in January 2005 pending an extradition request from Turkey. Kartal was released from custody on March 1, 2005, after a court determined that the Turkish authorities had not produced documentation to support the extradition request. See BBC Monitoring Service (Europe), “Kurdish Activist Kartal Released from German Prison,” March 2, 2005 [Excerpt from report by German-based Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Politika based on report from Mesopotamia News Agency’s Tulay Balci, “Abandon Policies Indexed to Turkey” March 2, 2005]. 231 See footnote above regarding the case of Metin Kaplan, deported from Germany to Turkey in October 2004. In the aftermath of Kaplan’s deportation to Turkey for trial on terrorism-related charges, the Aksam newspaper hailed the transfer as “A great gesture from Germany to Turkey as it tries to enter the E.U.” See Baris Atayman, “Turk Court Charges Cleric Extradited by Germany,” Reutuers, October 13, 2004. 232 Akhmed A. remains in detention and there have been claims of torture and ill-treatment. In order to maintain some measure of confidentiality, Human Rights Watch uses his first name only as an identifier. 233 Human Rights Watch is grateful to Andrea Huber of Amnesty International Austria for her assistance with gathering information regarding the A. case. The factual information in this section, unless otherwise noted, comes from AI Austria’s dossier on the case. 234 See, Amnesty International, “Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Concerns in the Region, January-June 2004,” September 1, 2004 [online] http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR010052004?open&of=ENG- HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17 NO. 4(D) 76