CCPR/C/112/D/2126/2011
and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 1 The author is
represented by counsel, Ms. Tsytlina and Mr. Golubok.
1.2
On 22 December 2011, pursuant to rule 92 of its rules of procedure, the Committee,
acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures,
requested the State party not to expel the author to Afghanistan pending consideration of
his communication.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author submits that, from 1981 to 1985, he served in the pro-Soviet Afghan
army fighting the mujahideen and was a member of the then ruling People’s Democratic
Party of Afghanistan, which was supported by the Soviet Union. He subsequently left
Afghanistan, on an unspecified date, to start university studies in the Soviet Union. In 1990
he married a Russian national, Valentina Smolyar, and on 12 December 1993 she gave birth
to their daughter Leyla, also a Russian national. From 1991 to 1997 the author studied
journalism at Saint Petersburg State University and from 1997 to 2002 he was enrolled in
post-graduate studies in international relations at the same university. During that period he
resided in the country on a student visa.
2.2
On 28 January 2003, the Vasilyevskiy Island District Court of St. Petersburg found
the author guilty of violating the registration rules for foreigners, sentenced him to a fine
and ordered him to leave the country within one month. The author lodged an appeal with
the City Court, which on 19 February 2003 partially rejected his appeal, but removed from
the first instance decision the requirement to leave the country within a month. The author
paid the fine and remained in the country.
2.3
On an unspecified date, the author requested asylum in the Russian Federation. The
St. Petersburg Directorate of the Federal Migration Service rejected his request and he
appealed to the Kuybushevskiy District Court, which on 25 May 2006 ruled in his favour.
Subsequent appeals by the Federal Migration Service failed and in 2006 he was granted
temporary asylum.
2.4
Despite the court judgement being still in force, in October 2009 the Federal
Migration Service withdrew his temporary asylum status. The author appealed to the
Dzerzhinskiy District Court, claiming that he would be at risk of persecution owing to his
army and political background and citing his established family ties in the country. His
appeal was rejected on 1 April 2010. His subsequent cassation appeal to the City Court and
an application for a supervisory review to the Supreme Court were also rejected, on 9
December 2010 and on 14 March 2011 respectively. The author continued to reside with
his family in St. Petersburg, but he has no valid residence permit and is liable to deportation
at any time.
The complaint
3.1
The author submits that, if he were returned to Afghanistan, he would be exposed to
treatment prohibited under article 7 of the Covenant. He maintains that, if returned to
Afghanistan, being a former combatant of the pro-Soviet regime who fought against the
mujahideen, he would be at serious risk of a vigilante attack by the Taliban fighters, who
hate everyone connected to the former regime. The fact that he has spent more than 20
years in the Russian Federation, seen as being inhabited by infidels and supporting the
NATO operation in Afghanistan, would increase the risk to his life. The author refers to the
Committee’s jurisprudence to the effect that the right enshrined in article 7 of the Covenant
1
The Optional Protocol entered into force for the Russian Federation on 1 October 1991.
3