CAT/C/47/D/428/2010
2.6
On 13 October 2009, 14 days prior to the Supreme Court decision, the complainant
moved to Morocco and on 16 January 2010, he was arrested in Tangiers and was placed in
detention for the purpose of his extradition to the Russian Federation. On 10 March 2010,
the Supreme Court of Morocco authorized the complainant’s extradition, despite the lack of
any bilateral or multilateral agreement. The complainant was detained waiting for the final
decision by the Minister of Justice, against which, however, he would not have any
effective remedy. He further feared that he would not be informed in a timely fashion of the
Minister of Justice’s decision. Media information stated that the State party was willing to
extradite the complainant and that they were preparing his hand-over.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant submits that if extradited to the Russian Federation, he would be
exposed to a real risk of being subjected to torture in breach of article 3, of the Convention.
He refers to the Committee’s concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the
Russian Federation, which speaks of numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations of acts
of torture committed by law enforcement personnel, including in police custody, and the
insufficient level of independence of the Procuracy, in particular due to the problems posed
by the dual responsibility for prosecution and for oversight of the conduct of the
investigations (CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, paras. 9 and 12). In 2003, the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture found that it received a disturbing number of allegations of
physical ill-treatment by members of the police. It further noted that the investigating
officers were fully aware of the ill-treatment and acquiesced in it. The complainant submits
that in the light of the specific background of his criminal proceedings, he has a wellfounded fear to believe that he would be exposed to torture or even killed in prison or
outside with the consent or acquiescence of the Russian authorities, if extradited to the
Russian Federation.
3.2
The complainant further submits that the existence of a personal risk to his life is
substantiated, inter alia, by the fact that his three business partners, who had reported the
facts to the judicial authorities on the unlawful attempt by the organized crime group to
acquisition their companies, died or disappeared shortly after their reports.
3.3
The complainant also underlines that his well-founded fear has been acknowledged
by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
representative in Rabat, who clearly stated that if extradited to the Russian Federation, the
complainant would be exposed to a real risk of torture in breach of article 3.
State party’s observations on admissibility
4.1
On 24 September 2010, the State party submitted its observations on the
admissibility indicating that the author failed to exhaust domestic remedies. The State party
explained that under Act No. 90-41 establishing administrative tribunals pursuant to Dahir
No. 225 of 22 Rabi` I 1414 (10 September 1993) and, in particular, article 9 thereof, the
Moroccan legislature granted the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court
jurisdiction over first instance and final decisions concerning requests to overturn
organizational and individual decisions of the Prime Minister on grounds of abuse of
power. In accordance with article 109 of the Committee’s rules of procedure
(CAT/C/3/Rev.4), the State party requested that the complaint be declared inadmissible.
4.2
On 17 January 2010, the complainant was taken into temporary detention by the
Moroccan authorities, based on an international arrest warrant issued by the Russian
judicial authorities, for the misappropriation of large sums of money by means of deception
and breach of trust on a broad scale. The complainant was brought before the Crown
Prosecutor at the Tangiers Court of First Instance, who notified him of the authority under
which he had been detained. The Russian authorities submitted an official request for his
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