Brno, Dec 7 (CTK) – The Constitutional Court (US) rejected yesterday a complaint by an Iraqi man who was detained in the Czech Republic and deported to his homeland, but it pointed to the systemic shortcomings in the legal regulations and the expulsion practice.
The deadlines for filing an asylum application and appeal of seven and five days, respectively, are unusually short, the US said.
It also pointed out that the state must secure foreigners’ access to qualified legal aid within the deadline for appeal.
If foreigners do not find a lawyer themselves, the state should mediate a personal contact. Without that, they cannot be expelled. A defence lawyer or an NGO’s lawyer can provide legal aid to them.
However, the Iraqi complainant had a lawyer who did not take part in the proceedings when the verdict was announced.
The US also expressed doubt that the Interior Ministry fulfilled its duty not to expel a person who faces danger in the homeland in all cases.
The Interior Ministry issues binding stances on administrative expulsion proceedings.
According to the US, these stances are often only formal without a due justification, while individual circumstances must always be taken into consideration.
The Iraqi complainant stays in an unknown place now. The US judges could not question him.
Otherwise, their decision on his complaint may have been different, judge-rapporteur Katerina Simackova said.
The man, who comes from Baghdad, claims to be a Sunni. From 2005-2010, he worked as a smith with a U.S. firm and indirectly for the U.S. military, which he proved by several certificates.
He said he left Iraq because he faced death threats by the Shiite militia for his cooperation with Americans.
He wanted to seek asylum in Sweden where his brother lived. However, the Czech police detained him since he entered the country illegally and he was escorted to the refugee facility in Bela-Jezova, central Bohemia.
The police, with the Interior Ministry’s consent, decided on his expulsion.
In his constitutional complaint, the man pointed out that his request for international protection was never proceeded and that he had to return to Iraq on the basis of the decision on administrative expulsion, while his fears of torture and death were not taken into into consideration.
The Czech police thereby violated the people’s right to a just trial, the asylum right and the right not to be exposed to torture or inhuman and humiliating treatment, he said.
Yesterday’s court finding is the first one directly related to the migrant crisis, which does not mean that the Iraqi man’s situation is isolated, Simackova said.
Foreigners often do not use all defence means since they do not know the language and law and they are expelled without turning to court, she added.
