The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of the Russian Federation to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 75/2023 concerning Yaroslav Vladimirovich Timofeyev, asking the Government of the Russian Federation to immediately and unconditionally release him and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Yaroslav Vladimirovich Timofeyev (Russian Federation): Opinion No. 75/2023.
DETAINED WITHOUT LEGAL BASIS AND CONVICTED IN BREACH OF THE PRINCIPLE OF LEGALITY
Yaroslav Vladimirovich Timofeyev is a national of the Russian Federation, born on 2 February 1996 from an ethnic Russian father and an ethnic Tatar mother. Between January 2015 and May 2016, Mr. Timofeyev participated in educational training and meetings of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic organization. In July 2016, he voluntarily left the organization and withdrew his support for its ideology. On, 9 February 2017, he was arrested, and his home was searched. Two years later, the Volga District Military Court found Mr. Timofeyev guilty of participation in a terrorist group under article 205.5 part 2 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to 12 years of imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony. The Government was given the opportunity to contest allegations that Mr. Timofeyev’s detention is arbitrary, which it did not.
Following his arrest, Mr. Timofeyev was held in pre-trial detention for more than 21 months, including 14 months in solitary confinement without heat, before his first appearance before the Volga District Military Court. As a result of the absence of an individualized determination of Mr. Timofeyev’s circumstances, the Working Group concluded that his detention lacked a legal basis, in violation of article 9(3) of the Covenant and article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Besides, during his pre-trial detention, Mr. Timofeyev was unable to challenge the legality of his detention, which the Working Group found was a violation of his right to do so under article 9(4) of the Covenant. As such, the Working Group also considered that this situation also violated his right to an effective remedy under article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 2(3) of the Covenant.
The Government retroactively applied a requirement for denouncing membership in a terrorist organization and a broader definition of "participation" than those existing at the time Mr. Timofeyev was involved and ended his involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir. Regarding this specific matter, the Working Group considered that detention under an anti-terrorism law, which did not explicitly contain language prohibiting the action of which the complainant was accused, violated article 15 of the Covenant. Moreover, Mr. Timofeyev was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison, a sentence that exceeded the maximum sentence of 10 years at the time of the commission of the alleged offence. As such, in light of the above, the Working Group found that Mr. Timofeyev’s detention and conviction, which were based on the retroactive reinterpretation of the vague language of article 205.5 and resulted in a higher retroactive sentence, violated the principle of legality under article 15 of the Covenant and article 11(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Thereby, the Working Group considered that his deprivation of liberty lacked legal basis and was thus arbitrary, falling under category I.
VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION AND TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSOCIATION
Mr. Timofeyev was detained on the ground of his participation in meetings held by Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Working Group recalled that the obligation of the Russian Federation to respect Mr. Timofeyev’s freedom of conscience and religion derived from article 18 of the Covenant, which protects discussions about religious beliefs. Based on the foregoing, the Working Group found Mr. Timofeyev's right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, enshrined in article 18 of the Covenant and article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, had been violated.
Besides, Mr. Timofeyev’s participation in Hizb-ut Tahrir was limited to meetings that served a purely educational purpose, where attendees learned the basics of Islam and discussed current events. The Government did not provide a legitimate justification for the restriction of freedom of expression and association under articles 19(3) and article 22 (2) of the Covenant. In particular, the Government has failed to demonstrate that Mr. Timofeyev's imprisonment was necessary to avert a real danger to national security or public order.
In addition, the Government's application of Article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code, which broadly criminalizes participation in "terrorist groups" without a direct connection to terrorist activity, violated the principles of legality and specificity required by international law.
For these reasons, the Working Group found that the rights of Mr. Timofeyev to freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in article 19 of the Covenant and article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as to freedom of association, enshrined in article 22 of the Covenant and article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, were violated.
Thus, the Working Group considered that the deprivation of liberty of Mr. Timofeyev was arbitrary under category II.
VIOLATIONS OF HIS RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL
Mr. Timofeyev was reportedly held in solitary confinement for over a year. He was allegedly coerced into signing a confession through prolonged isolation, cold and psychological abuse. The Working Group found that this situation violated the absolute prohibition of torture, set out in article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 7 of the Covenant. The Working Group also considered this affected Mr. Timofeyev’s ability to prepare a defense, jeopardized the principle of equality of both parties and violated his right to a fair trial.
Mr. Timofeyev’s confessions were also made in the absence of legal counsel. They were then used as a basis for his conviction, on the grounds that they were supported by another testimony – which was also obtained under torture. As a result, the Working Group found that his rights to be presumed innocent under article 14(2) of the Covenant and not to be compelled to confess guilt under article 14(3)(g) of the Covenant have been violated. Moreover, the admission of evidence from third parties extracted through torture also violates article 14(3)(g) of the Covenant.
Lastly, Mr. Timofeyev’s lawyers faced persecution and threats, impeding their ability to adequately represent him. As such, the Working Group found that the right of Mr. Timofeyev to legal assistance under article 14(3)(d) of the Covenant was violated.
As a consequence, the Working Group concluded that the breaches of the fair trial and due process rights of Mr. Timofeyev were of such gravity as to give his deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character, falling within category III.
DETAINED FOR HIS RELIGIOUS FAITH
Mr. Timofeyev is part of an ever-growing number of Crimean Tatars who have been arrested, detained and charged with criminal activities on the basis of their ethnic origin and their religious faith. The Working Group thus found that Mr. Timofeyev was deprived of his liberty on discriminatory grounds based on his religious faith. As such, his detention violated articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 26 of the Covenant.
The Working Group therefore found that the detention of Mr. Timofeyev was arbitrary, falling under category V.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In the light of the foregoing, the Working Group considered that the detention of Yaroslav Vladimirovich Timofeyev was arbitrary and fell within categories I, II, III and V because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 9, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right.
The Working Group recommended the Government of the Russian Federation to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Timofeyev without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Timofeyev immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
The Working Group also urged the Government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Timofeyev and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights. Additionally, it requested the Government to bring its laws, specifically article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code, into conformity with the recommendations made in the opinion and its international human rights commitments.
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