Uzbek Asylum-Seekers Face Extradition From Ukraine

Human rights defenders say Ukraine is becoming an unsafe country for Uzbek asylum-seekers. 

On July 2, the No Borders project at the Ukrainian Centre for Social Action reported the arrests of Umid Hamroev and Qosim Dodokhonov in the Kiev region.

When Ukrainian police detained Dodokhonov on June 29, they did not show him an arrest warrant and simply told him he was on a wanted list supplied by the authorities in Uzbekistan. He is currently awaiting a court hearing to determine whether he will be placed under arrest or extradited.

Hamroev, also an asylum-seeker, was arrested on June 15 under similar circumstances. On June 24, a municipal court in the town of Irpen ruled that Hamroev could be held in custody for 40 days.

Shortly before he was detained, the Ukrainian authorities refused him refugee status, arguing that he had no reason to fear persecution in Uzbekistan.

Maxim Butkevich, coordinator of the No Borders project, told NBCentralAsia that the Uzbek authorities accuse the two men of membership of prohibited organisations, disseminating literature that poses a threat to public order, and anti-constitutional activities. The Uzbek criminal code envisages prison terms of ten to 15 years for such offences.

After Hamroev and Dodokhonov were picked up, a third man, Shodilbek Soibzhonov, an asylum-seeker living in Ukraine since 2009, was warned that he too faced possible deportation to Uzbekistan.

“Any attempt to send these asylum-seekers to their country of origin would be a crime, as it would be in violation of several Ukrainian laws and international conventions,” a press release posted on the No Borders website said. “The detained men should be freed, and attempts to persecute those fortunate enough to escape repression in their home country must end.”

In 2006, Ukraine deported a group of Uzbek political refugees, who were jailed when they returned to Uzbekistan. Two years later, Ukraine tried for the first time to send an asylum-seeker, Abdumalik Bakaev, back under extradition proceedings. However, in that case, international pressure forced Ukraine to back down.

Such extraditions contravene international laws including United Nations conventions on the status of refugees, on human rights and on torture prevention.

“We are dealing with a trend here,” said Butkevich. “There have been three cases of this kind in the past three weeks.”

Ukraine used to be a haven for people fleeing Uzbekistan.

“For many of them, Ukraine was the only country where they could legally apply for asylum without fear of persecution,” said Butkevich, noting that refugees had been forcibly returned to Uzbekistan from both Russia and Kazakhstan. 

“Recent developments [in Ukraine] are of crucial concern to many Uzbek refugees,” he added.

Surat Ikramov, who heads the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders in Uzbekistan, fears that asylum-seekers sent back to Uzbekistan will face imprisonment and cruel treatment.

“They are wanted on religious and political charges, and they will be undoubtedly tortured. No one in Uzbekistan will be able to help them,” said Ikramov. “On no account must they be extradited.”

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy