CCPR/C/112/D/2126/2011
Further submission by the author
8.
On 13 July 2013, the author submits that he still has no papers and “has no valid
legal grounds” for remaining in the Russian Federation and therefore, under the domestic
legislation on the status of foreigners, may be deported at any time on the basis of an
administrative decision of the Federal Migration Service. He reiterates that his latest request
for temporary asylum, submitted after his communication to the Committee, has been
rejected. He further submits that his appeals of that decision have also failed and provides
copies of the relevant court decisions.14
Further submission by the State party
9.
On 18 October 2013, the State party confirms that the author’s appeal against the
decision to refuse his application for temporary asylum had been reviewed and rejected by
the Dzerzhinskiy District Court in a judgment of 23 January 2013 and that the St.
Petersburg City Court rejected the appeal against that judgement on 15 May 2013. It further
submits that the Supreme Court has not reviewed a cassation appeal against the
Dzerzhinskiy District Court judgment. The State party submits that, on the basis of the
court decisions, it appears that in his application and appeals the author had put forward the
same arguments as in 2009, namely that the first instance court had agreed with the
decision of the Federal Migration Service and had not found any grounds to declare it
illegal. Accordingly at the time of the State party’s submission there were no grounds to
grant temporary asylum to the author on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
10.1 Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Human Rights
Committee must, in accordance with rule 93 of its rules of procedure, decide whether or not
the communication is admissible under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
10.2 The Committee has ascertained, as required under article 5, paragraph 2 (a), of the
Optional Protocol, that the same matter is not being examined under another procedure of
international investigation or settlement.
10.3 The Committee notes the State party’s submission that there was no decision
regarding the deportation of the author to Afghanistan and that therefore the
communication should be declared inadmissible under article 2 of the Optional Protocol.
That submission raises the issue of whether the author of the communication can be
regarded as a “victim” for the purposes of articles 1 and 2 of the Optional Protocol. In that
regard the Committee takes note of the author’s explanation that, on the basis of Federal
Law No. 115 in conjunction with section 13 of the Law on refugees the officials of the
Migration Service could at any time take a decision to deport him and that the only reason
that that had not been done was the Committee’s request for interim measures. The author
also submits that there is no procedure for the judicial review of such a deportation decision
that would suspend the deportation. The Committee notes that the State party has not
refuted those submissions. The Committee further notes that the author has alleged that if
deported to Afghanistan he would be facing a real and personal risk of torture. The
Committee observes that the facts as presented raise issues under article 7 of the Covenant
14
The author provides a copy of a judgement of the Dzerzhinskiy District Court, dated 23 January 2013;
a copy of his appeal of that judgement, from February 2013; and a copy of the appellate ruling of the
St. Petersburg City Court rejecting his appeal, dated 15 May 2013.
9