Russia: Death threats, ongoing arbitrary detention and risks of imminent deportation to Uzbekistan of Valentina Chupik

The Observatory has been informed about the death threats and ongoing arbitrary detention and risks of imminent deportation to Uzbekistan of Valentina Chupik, a migrants’ rights defender and the head of the human rights organisation ‘Tong Jahoni’, a center providing free legal assistance to migrant individuals in Russia.

As of September 29, 2021, Valentina Chupik remains detained at the deportation centre of the airport of Sheremetyevo and can be deported at any time to Uzbekistan, where she faces a serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Police officers refuse to inform her about the status of the deportation proceedings. Her request to be provided with a mobile phone charger has been denied in an attempt to isolate her from her lawyers as well as from human rights organisations and journalists that have been monitoring her situation since her arrest on September 25, 2021. Moreover, Valentina Chupik reported that police officers have threatened her life, stating that “she could be taken away and killed at any time”.

The Observatory recalls that Valentina Chupik was arbitrarily detained on September 25, 2021 by the Russian border police at the Sheremetyevo International Airport, in Moscow, upon her return from a trip to Armenia. The authorities seized her documents and informed her that she was banned from entering Russia for 30 years (until 2051) and that her refugee status had been cancelled on September 17, 2021 pursuant to Article 9, subparagraph 2 of the Law On Refugees of Russia (“submission of false information or forged documents for obtaining a refugee status”). According to the defender, police officers at the airport told Valentina Chupik that her refugee status had been removed due to her “bad behaviour”, in relation to her public denouncement of cases of corruption within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and numerous complaints.

Valentina Chupik fled her country of origin, Uzbekistan, following the massacre in the city of Andijan on May 13, 2005, and the acts of torture the security services of Uzbekistan perpetrated against her. She has resided in Russia since then, where she was granted a refugee status in 2008. Since arriving in Moscow, Chupik has established an NGO that provides assistance to migrants from Central Asian countries. Among other things, the human rights activist has criticised the Russian authorities’ migration legislation, including the latest version of a draft migration law, which is currently being prepared by the Russian government. Independent media sources claim that Chupik’s arbitrary detention is related to her criticism of Russia’s migration policy and the above-mentioned bill in particular.

There are at least two strong reasons to believe that the attacks of the Russian authorities against the human rights defender are politically motivated: first, the human rights activist was deprived of her refugee status when she was not in the country, and therefore she could not challenge the authorities’ decision (although the law gives her one month to do so). Second, her refugee status was extended in March of this year, and was subsequently withdrawn when she began actively criticising the Russian authorities.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the attempts to isolate Valentina Chupik and prevent her from contacting her lawyers, human rights organisations and journalists monitoring her situation.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention, death threats, and imminent deportation of Valentina Chupik and urges the authorities of Russia to immediately and unconditionally release her, reinstate her refugee status and immediately stop the deportation proceedings. The Observatory further urges the Russian authorities to respect the principle of non-refoulement as provided for under international refugee and human rights law, and to take all necessary measures to protect Valentina Chupik against the return to Uzbekistan, where she faces the possibility of arbitrary arrest and torture.