AN ENDGAME FOR DETAINED UZBEKS IN IVANOVO?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 012932

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ECA ETOURE AND EUR/RUS JGRONDELSKI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2016
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL RS
SUBJECT: AN ENDGAME FOR DETAINED UZBEKS IN IVANOVO?

REF: A. STATE 196597

B. MOSCOW 12583

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel A. Russell.
Reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: UNHCR is developing contingency plans for
what may be a final GOR decision on 13 detained Uzbeks in
Ivanovo. Our UNHCR and NGO contacts do not have credible
information on what the GOR may do, but they expect whatever
decision has been made to be implemented as soon as December
16, when the GOR would have to begin releasing the detainees.
The Uzbeks' release is just one possibility in what has
become a complex legal battle in Russian and international
courts. The Embassy has continued to demarche the GOR on
these cases, most recently at the Assistant Secretary level
on December 8. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) UNHCR Senior Protection Officer Gang Li said
December 14 that UNHCR has prepared contingency plans to
respond to possible new developments in the cases of 13
Uzbeks (12 citizens of Uzbekistan and 1 citizen of
Kyrgyzstan),whose extradition has been requested by the
Government of Uzbekistan. Li said UNHCR understands that the
13 could/could be released starting on or about December 16.
According to UNHCR and others' interpretation of Russian law,
detainees may only be held without charges for 180 days
before they must be released. This period for the Uzbek
detainees ends between December 16 and December 20.

OPTIONS AND PLANS
--------------


3. (C) Li said there are three likely options: the Uzbeks
would not be released, maintaining the status quo; they would
be released and would be able to pursue resettlement to a
third country; or they would be released but re-arrested with
an aim to deport them. Within each of these options, there
are important legal questions that have to be considered.
One such question is their status in Russia if they are
released, because of the consequences it may have for final
resolution of the case. As of December 14, neither UNHCR nor
the attorney handling their case had any information on what
decision the GOR would make, Li said. There had been
contradictory signals given in other similar cases. A court
in Tyumen rejected the extradition of another Uzbek detainee
recently, and he has approached UNHCR without any problems.
A court in Lipetsk also ordered the release of an Uzbek, who
was then arrested in Moscow and deported despite having an
appeal of extradition pending.


4. (C) In the interim, UNHCR is working with the Uzbeks'
attorney on other legal strategies intended to prevent their
deportation. The European Court of Human Rights has taken
the case under consideration, resulting in an instruction to
the GOR not to deport them, and Russian prosecutors have
stayed the extradition order. The recent Russian Supreme
Court ruling on their case omitted any discussion of the
legality of the extradition order issued by the Procurator
General, only commenting on the legality of the procedures
followed in issuing the order. Li said that once the ruling
is released, there may be grounds for a further appeal
seeking to nullify the order itself. In a separate process,
the Uzbeks have filed a request for temporary asylum in
Russia on the grounds they would be persecuted if returned.
The Federal Migration Service has rejected their request, but
a local court in Ivanovo has ordered FMS to review its
decision, citing the risk of future persecution.


5. (C) Li told us that if the Uzbeks are released, UNHCR
will act immediately to try to move them to Sweden, which has
already agreed to accept them as refugees. UNHCR's key
objective will be to ensure that they have some legal status
in Russia so they can receive exit permission from the GOR as
well as to protect them from arrest for being in Russia
illegally. UNHCR has advised the detainees to apply for a
residency permit as soon as they are released, both to
facilitate exit permission and to minimize the chance of
their arrest as "illegal migrants." Without legal status,
they could be deported for administrative violations of the
Law on Foreigners, in spite of the on-going court
consideration of the extradition.

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) Like our colleagues at UNHCR and in the NGO
community, we cannot predict what the GOR will decide to do,
and the outcomes of similar cases have been mixed. Thus far
at least, the GOR's approach seems to be to let this play out

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through the legal system. Our demarches have relied on
reminding Russia of its international obligations under the
Convention on Refugees and Convention Against Torture. While
continuing to make the point on torture and the GOU's lack of
credible assurances that prisoners will be treated in
accordance with international standards, the Embassy has been
emphasizing the importance of allowing the Uzbeks to pursue
their appeals (refs A and B). A court-ordered release would
send an important and welcome signal, not only for rule of
law in Russia, but to other countries in the region facing
similar extradition requests.
RUSSELL