October 2020, history-geography professor Samuel Paty is assassinated by Abdullakh Anzorov. The assailant, who was not listed S but was known to the police for common law offenses, was a young man of Chechen origin born in 2002. Recently radicalized, he took action without his neither his own family nor his relatives saw his macabre project dawning. From then on, the Chechen community, already under the spotlight since the riots in Dijon, came into the state's sights. The authorities have made it a priority to expel radical elements from this community which has known war in its country of origin for nearly 30 years.
A radical change vis-à-vis a population hitherto very protected by France. Since November 2020, at least a dozen Chechens have thus been sent back to Russia and then, in a second step, the Kremlin handed them over to the regime of Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Chechen Republic, to expeditious methods.
A policy that disgusts several NGOs, including Amnesty International, the Chechnya Committee, the Human Rights League and even Humans Right Watch. In a statement, human rights activists "gun down" French politics. "The French authorities knowingly violate international and European rules, which absolutely prohibit the return of a person to a country where he risks torture and ill-treatment." Still according to these NGOs, arrived in Russia, several of these expelled refugees were handed over to the Chechen security services and detained. At least one of them has reportedly already been subjected to torture and two others were victims of enforced disappearances, before reappearing. In total,ten asylum seekers or refugees of Chechen origin were expelled between November 2020 and May 2021.
"We do not send a person away when we know they are going to be tortured"
“Hundreds of people could lose their status in 2021, with the risk of eventually being deported to Russia.
At least one refugee was placed this week in an administrative detention center and threats of imminent expulsion weigh on several other people, ”these humanitarian associations are alarmed.
They point to inhumane expulsions such as that of a father of four children, suffering from several serious pathologies, whose state of health worsened upon his arrival on Russian territory.
Another father, Magomed Gadaev, was expelled this week despite a desperate gesture: he cut his stomach open with a knife to prevent his dismissal.
Because the risks are great for these Chechens returned to the hands of the Kadyrovskis, the henchmen of the small Republic of the Russian Federation.
Expelled on April 9, 2021, Magomed Gadaev is precisely the key witness in a case of secret detentions and extrajudicial executions in Chechnya in 2010. And he is again imprisoned for terrorism, because of the presence "in his father's attic. weapons hidden before his departure in 2010 to take refuge in Europe ”.
In this context where he is risking his life, his lawyers have decided to bring the complaint before the European Court of Human Rights against France.
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“A new line has been crossed, the protection of people has taken a hit, we can be worried about the future of the right of asylum for a State which claims human rights. Nothing prevents other nationalities from being targeted, ”analyzes Jean-François Dubost of the Chechnya Committee. For this volunteer, the heart of the problem comes from the administrative nature of expulsions which are motivated solely on the basis of "white notes" from the services, the content of which "may be questionable, and without any intervention by the justice". “In the worst case scenario, you don't send a person back when you know they are going to be tortured in their country. This is what makes the value of a democracy ”, underlines this lawyer. "It is serious, the elements of protection of these people no longer weigh in the face of political considerations of
fight against terrorism
”, he still believes.
"A relentlessness on the part of Darmanin"
Within the Chechen community in France, which is rather well integrated as a whole, this new situation is struggling to be seen.
“There is the feeling of having become the scapegoats since the assassination of Samuel Paty.
Some say that France is no better than Russia, ”worries Heda Inderbaeva, a specialist in international relations living in France and a Chechen refugee.
“It is a blatant disrespect for human rights conventions.
Chechens are easy to kick out for the numbers.
They do not have a country as such, and the Russians welcome them with joy to make them examples of betrayal to the motherland, ”she quips.
“The community has been paying close attention to its behavior since the events in Dijon.
One has the impression of relentlessness on the part of Gérald Darmanin.
Assumptions of radicalization are enough to be kicked out.
The community is terrified, how can you be kicked out without having proof?
“Asks Heda Inderbaeva.
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On the side of the Ministry of the Interior, contacted by Le Parisien, we take refuge behind case law to challenge the accusation of illegality of its measures. For Place Beauvau, France is in the nails. "The competent administrative authority, under the supervision of the judge, carries out an in-depth case-by-case analysis of the possible risks incurred in the country of return, paying particular attention to the situation of persons who have had their status withdrawn. refugee for reasons of public order, ”recalls the ministry.
“Regarding the return to Russia of people considered to be radicalized, the European Court of Human Rights recalled very recently, in its KI judgment against France of April 15, 2021, that concerning the general situation in the North Caucasus region , it has already considered that, although serious human rights violations are reported in Chechnya, the situation is not such that any return to the Russian Federation would constitute a violation of Article 3 of the Convention ”, The services of the Directorate of Foreigners (DGEF) also responded to us to reinforce their policy.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin met his Russian counterpart on November 11 and 12, but his services did not respond to our requests for the establishment of a special procedure between the two states, particularly targeting the Chechens. .