Today, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) presents a report documenting that the situation in the Russian parts of Northern Caucasus remains the worst human rights crisis in Europe. A Regional System of Torture, Forced Confessions and Fabricated Trials shows how Russian authorities abuse the court system in their ongoing anti-terror operation. (14-MAY-08)

Based on NHC´s own press release, issued yesterday, this article has been translated, edited and prepared for publication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.

Police and security forces systematically torture people suspected of being part of or sympathizing with the guerrillas, and many are sentenced to long prison terms on the basis of fabricated evidence.

In its inaugural declaration, the so-called Soria Moria declaration, the Norwegian government promised to ´pursue a refugee politics that to a greater extent will observe the United Nations´ High Commissioner for Refugees´ recommendations. The Norwegian Immigration Authority´s new practice towards Chechen asylum seekers from the Russian Federation, formally approved by the Ministry of Labour and Inclusion, shows that Norway currently has taken a completely opposite approach.

Not only does the Norwegian Immigration Authority break with the UN´s recommendations. Its decisions are based on an understanding of the stuation in the Chechen Republic and the Russian Federation that contradicts the reports of all leading human rights organisations, and also resolutions, deeclarations and reports from the Council of Europe, including verdicts from the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg.

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is of the opinion that Norwegian immigration authorities and the government must

-stop rejecting persons belonging to vulnerable groups from North Caucasus on the grounds that they can settle elsewhere in the Russian Federation
-protect persons that are persecuted for having approached the Strasbourg Court
-fulfil its own promises to ´actively support the work of the Council of Europe to secure democracy, basic human rights and stability in Europe´.

If the decisions are confirmed and the asylum seekers returned, they risk being subjected to severe human rights violations, including torture. Thus, the Norwegian government risk not only breaking its own promises. Norway may also violate the European Human Rights Convention and the Refugee Convention´s prohibition against returning people for whom there is a well founded fear of persecution.

For more information, please contact:
Secretary General Bjørn Engesland, +47 957 53 350
Adviser Aage Borchgrevink, +47 907 51 150

www.nhc.no