On Thursday, November 26 at 5 p.m. Akhmed Labazanov and Vakha Dadaev were taken to Helsinki to the deportation camp to be deported to Poland. A group of well-known human rights defenders applied to Finnish Supreme Administrative Court for preventing to deportation.

The application is here:

Korkein hallinto-oikeus  Nov.25, 2009

(Superior Administrative Court) P.O. Box 180 Fin-00131 Helsinki, Finland

Honorable Court,

Please accept our trust and respect.

We at the International Human Rights Group (regarding Chechnya) address a Motion for reconsidering and possibly changing your decision Asnro 1116709 of October 31, 2009 regarding two Chechen nationals: Vakha Dadaev, 1983, and Ahmed Labazanov, 989.

We’ve carefully examined their cases, keeping in mind the current situation in the Russian Federation, Poland and Chechnya. We would like to put forward three reasons why they should not be deported to Poland.

1) Current conditions for refugees in Poland are much worse than the media (Polish and some International media) describe them. Below are some examples drawn from the past two years:

Mr. Lecha Azimov (two years ago) wrote from a refugee camp in Poland: “The dinner always ends with a quarrel and fight for the rest of the food in the big saucepans in the kitchen”. Mr. Ruslan Elisultanov from Radom undertook (10 months ago) an unimaginable step: with three children (one of whom was 11-months old) and his sick wife he tried to walk over the border to Austria. He said that he had almost nothing to feed the children and – more important – in the crowded camps many are sick, and diseases spread quickly. Two of his children were very sick; and he was afraid for his baby.

Even now the “Ukrainian Plague” is drifting into Poland, and the Chechens, who are under stress and experiencing malnutrition, are prone to being the first victims of this might-be pandemic disease.

Mr. Makhmad-Salah Aziev (4 months ago): “After three months in the Refugee camp, they evicted me, saying that I need to find my own dwelling and pay my own expenses. But how can I pay for this if my social assistance isn’t enough even for food; I cannot find any job, because so many Polish people are jobless, and of course nobody will hire me if I can’t speak Polish. In addition, I am disabled…”

We don’t blame Poland. We blame the European countries, which made (under strong Russian influence and likely pressure) the so called Dublin 2 and Dublin agreements. The Chechens are trying to flee from Kadİrov-Putin terror. They have no geographical options except to enter Poland before reaching other European countries. And they find themselves in a trap. There’s no way out.

2) The main problem for Chechen refugees in Poland is that Kadyrovites (Kadirov guards, or so called “army”) hunt for them. Poland has dense nets of KGB agents, especially after the recent visit of Putin and his “fruitful” talks with Polish leaders. To deport Chechens to Poland is almost the equivalent of deporting them to Russia (the cases of kidnapping, disappearance and detention of Chechens newcomers in Poland are growing in number constantly). So, the deportation of the Chechens to Poland can be viewed as political oppression.

A few years ago Finland was on the best (the first) place among more than hundred countries for the amount of political repression cases. Finland had then only one political prisoner. Russia took the last but one place: before Uzbekistan, with a maximal amount of political prisoners and political murders.

Thus, you can understand what is awaiting deportees in Russia: if not killing or beating to death (sometimes secretly), or else disappearing without trace,- then detention, where tortures and beating slow put detainees to death. We don’t know yet what has happened with Murad Gasayev, who was deported from Spain on the night of Dec 31 2008. The Russian General Procurator swore that Gasayev would be placed in normal conditions and nothing would happen to threaten his life. In fact, Gasayev was detained in a very notorious prison “Bely Lebed’”; after 10 months the Russian authorities who received plenty of evidence about Gasayev’s innocence declared that he was free. However, nobody has seen him: not his parents, relatives, friends, or attorneys. All questions about his whereabouts are unanswered. He simply disappeared.

3) Both, Akhmed and Vakha left behind their old and sick parents, who had no chance to escape. But they sold all their belongings and gave all they had to their sons in order to make possible their escape from terror in Chechnya. They don’t have anybody in Poland, The only relative they have beyond their parents are in Finland. Those relatives, to whom Finland already granted asylum. Akhmed has his brother, Lyoma Susarov, whom Finnish Ambassador to Ukraine himself resettled (just after this Akhmed, Lyoma’s younger brother was persecuted); and Vakha has his uncle in Finland. So, the extent families would be reunited if decision on the both cases will be positive. So don’t separate these young men from their only relatives outside Chechnya,-in Finland. That’s why they were so eager to reach your country, but when passing by Poland they were forced to make fingerprints.

The two young men didn’t participate in any war crimes, or their like: they are too young. The youngest is 20. It is now the age that is most hunted by KGB. It is a shame, they may be deported; it is not even considered in the above-mentioned Dublin agreements, the separating of families. Don’t make them victims of the monstrous KGB. Recall your own history of encounters with the Soviet KGB many years ago.

The deportation of Chechens must at least slightly remind us of the deportation of Jews (turning them back to Germany) from some countries directly to Nazi crematorium…

We thank and appreciate the Finnish tolerance of immigrants, from many countries where they are abused, even Chechens. So, please be consistent to the end— save the lives of these two Chechens. They will be devoted members of Finnish community.

We urge you again to reconsider as quickly as possible these two cases.

With great respect – members of the International Human Rights group:

Victoria Poupko, American Association of Jews from former Soviet Union,
Anna Politkovskaya Fund, USA

Elena Maglevannaya, Russian journalist, Finland

Nadezhda Banchik, Amnesty International, USA

Mayrbek Taramov, Chechen Human Rights Center, Sweden

Said Emin Ibragimov, Peace and Human Rights, France;

Contacts on behalf of the Group:

Dr.Victoria Poupko

Tel: 001 617 671-4695, E-mail: vpoupko@gmail.com
Address: 190 Harvard Street, S.4; Brookline, Mass. 02446; USA