France condemned for the expulsion of two Chechens
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France was condemned, Tuesday August 30, for having expelled or wanted to expel two Chechen nationals in Russia, in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. While the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, seems determined to make the strengthening of expulsions of foreigners a strong marker of his action on Place Beauvau and the heart of a bill announced for the autumn, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has delivered two judgments in which it considers that France has violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits States from practicing torture, or subjecting a person under of their jurisdiction to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
These convictions sound like a reminder of the red lines that prevail in matters of deportation. “We cannot remove people just because we consider them to be dangerous or that they say things that we do not like, emphasizes Nicolas Hervieu, lecturer at Sciences Po and specialist in European human rights law. They remain human beings who cannot under any circumstances risk attacks on their lives or inhuman and degrading treatment. It is not because one is a terrorist or a criminal that one can be tortured or killed. It is the fundamental values of our States governed by the rule of law that we are dealing with here. »
“Links to a terrorist organization”
In this case, the judgments of the ECHR of August 30 refer to the expulsion of two Russian nationals of Chechen origin. The first had notably been sentenced in 2014 for acts of threatening a person holding public authority and for acts of theft in meetings, then to six years in prison in 2017 for participation in a criminal association for the preparation of a terrorist act. He was deported to Russia in November 2020, after having his refugee status withdrawn and was reportedly detained a few days later.
The second applicant (who was ultimately not returned) had also lost his refugee status after being checked in possession of a Russian passport in 2014 and the Ministry of the Interior had initiated his expulsion in 2020 on account of its role in the radical Islamist movement in France. The European court considered that his deportation to Russia would expose him to a real risk of being subjected to torture, particularly in view of “his past as a fighter in a Chechen terrorist organization, as well as his commitment to the benefit of the international jihad”.
“The protection offered by Article 3 of the Convention is absolute. It does not allow any derogation, even in the event of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation. The same applies even in the event that, as in the present case, the applicant had links with a terrorist organization.argued in its judgment the ECHR.
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