Communicated on 16 January 2014
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 60692/13
A. B.
against Poland
lodged on 26 September 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr A. B., is a Russian national of Chechen origin, who was born in 1990 and is currently detained in the Detention Centre for Expulsion Purposes in Przemyśl. The President granted the applicant’s request for his identity not to be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 3). He is represented before the Court by Ms S. Paduchowska, a lawyer practising in Lublin.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant applied for the first time for refugee status in Poland in May 2011. He was denied and left Poland for Germany.
On 12 April 2013 he was transferred from Germany to Poland and placed in the Guarded Centre for Foreigners in Przemyśl.
On 19 July 2013 the Przemyśl District Court decided to detain the applicant in the Detention Centre for Expulsion Purposes. His detention was subsequently extended until 5 November 2013 by the decision of the Przemyśl District Court.
Following his transfer to Poland, on 9 May 2013, the applicant applied for the second time to be granted a refugee status in Poland. He relied on a risk of his persecution if expulsed to Russia. He submitted, among other things, that in 2002 his father had been shot dead in front of him and his mother. He was 12 at that time. The applicant provided that after his father’s death, he and his family were constantly persecuted by the state officials and were in fear for their life and security.
On 4 July 2013 he was refused refugee status and complimentary protection by the Head of the Office for Foreigners. He appealed to the Refugee Council.
On 12 September 2013 the Refugee Council dismissed the applicant’s appeal and refused refugee status and complimentary protection and ordered expulsion of the applicant from Poland.
The Polish authorities considered that the applicant failed to demonstrate individual risk of persecution. The applicant was not affiliated with any political party or other organisation or rebel group; nor did he take part in war activities. It was concluded that since the applicant had not been arrested or convicted in the past, he didn’t demonstrate any possible risk of persecution by national authorities if he returned.
The Polish authorities in general did not question the facts provided by the applicant, although they did not give full credit to the applicant’s submissions that his mother was summoned by the Russian Police and that his grandmother suffered persecution because she had filed a complaint with the Court. Additionally, the Polish authorities did not diagnose the applicant with any post-traumatic stress disorder.
On 3 October 2013 the applicant’s lawyer appealed to the administrative court and requested that his deportation be suspended. The relevant proceedings are pending.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complains under Article 2 of the Convention that his expulsion to Russia would expose him to real danger for his life and that he would be subject to ill-treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. In the light of the applicant’s claims and documents submitted would the applicant face a real danger to his life if the expulsion order was enforced?
2. Would he face a real risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention if the expulsion order was enforced?
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