European Court of Human Rights Rules that Expulsion of Refugess from Russia to Syria Violated the European Convention on Human Rights (October 15, 2015) [1]
On October 15, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) decided [3] in L.M. and Others V. Russia that the deportation of three refugees to Syria was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights [4]. The case concerns one stateless Palestinian and two Syrian nationals who had entered Russia in 2013 and petitioned for refugee status, stating that “they feared for their lives if returned to Syria and referred to information about the ongoing and widespread conflict there.” After the Russian Court denied their claims, finding them too general in nature and their motives to be mainly economic, the refugees brought their claim to the Court. With regard to Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 (prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the Convention, the Court noted that the applicants had plausibly demonstrated that they faced real danger to their lives and personal security if expelled. The Court stated while “it has not yet adopted a judgment to evaluate the allegations of a risk of danger to life or ill-treatment in the context of the ongoing conflict in Syria . . . [t]he latest UN reports describe the situation as a ‘humanitarian crisis’ and speak of ‘immeasurable suffering’ of the civilians, massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law by all parties and the resulting displacement of almost half of the country’s population.” The Court further found that Russia had violated Article 5 (right to liberty and security) by keeping the applicants in detention centers after the Russian courts had reached an improper decision about their deportation and Article 34 (right of individual petition) by failing to provide the applicants meetings with their attorneys.