Anfragebeantwortung zu Usbekistan: Gehen die Behörden gehen Personen vor, die längere Zeit im Ausland waren, bzw. werden diese bei ihrer Rückkehr von den Behörden überprüft? [a-8854-2]
18. September 2014
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Das Europäische Migrationsnetzwerk (EMN), ein von der Europäischen Union (EU) finanziertes Netzwerk mit dem Ziel, Organe der EU, nationale Institutionen und Behörden sowie die Öffentlichkeit mit Informationen über Migration und Asyl zu versorgen, veröffentlicht im April 2013 die Ergebnisse einer vom EMN an die Regierung der EU-Mitgliedstaaten gestellten Ad-hoc-Anfrage zum Thema Zwangsrückkehr nach Usbekistan. Hierin findet sich folgende Stellungnahme der niederländischen Regierung, die nach eigenen Angaben auf der Durchsicht und Beurteilung verfügbarer Herkunftsländerinformationen sowie auf Auskünften mehrerer ExpertInnen basiere:
„Between 1 Jan 2011 and 12 March 2013, the Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service forcibly repatriated approximately five Uzbek nationals to Uzbekistan. Forced return is effectuated when an alien has no legal stay in the Netherlands and does not leave the Netherlands on his/her own account within a certain time limit (specified in law). First of all we would like to stress that the Dutch Office for country information and language analysis of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service does not receive many questions about this topic, and therefore our information position in regard to this matter is not particularly strong. […]
After a thorough examination and assessment of the available country of origin information and having heard several experts, some of their conclusions are:
‘Article 223 of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code (UCC) makes it an offence for a citizen to leave the country without permission – what is described as ‘illegal exit abroad’. The basic offence of ‘illegal exit abroad’ is punishable by a fine or by imprisonment for between three to five years.’
‘In specified aggravating circumstances (a physical breach of the border, conspiracy, or the exit abroad of a state employee requiring special permission) the penalty for ‘illegal exit abroad’ under Article 223 of the UCC [Uzbekistan Criminal Code] rises to five to ten years’ imprisonment. It is unclear from the evidence before us whether a fine will also be imposed.’
‘Uzbek citizens are required to obtain an exit permit prior to leaving the country. However, Annex 1 to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 8, issued on 06.01.1995, provides that no penalties apply to someone who returns to Uzbekistan after the expiry of their exit permit. Normally, exit permits can be renewed at the Uzbekistan Embassy in the third country where an Uzbek citizen is living.’ (Although this last point is stated in the law and the evidence in the case leads to this conclusion, we have some doubts as to whether this is actually possible in practice)’
‘There is no evidence of prosecutions under art 223 of the UCC of ordinary returning Uzbek citizens with expired permits, including failed asylum seekers, where such individuals had no particular profile or distinguishing features which would otherwise have led to any adverse interest in them. It has therefore not been established that such returnees are at real risk of persecution on return.’
‘There are cases of Uzbek nationals , having left the country lawfully, nevertheless being charged with ‘illegal exit abroad’ and prosecuted under art 233 of the penal code following their return to Uzbekistan with expired exit permits. However, those cases involved pre-existing interest by the authorities, association with the events in Andijan in 2005, association with Islamic militant activity, travel to other countries other than that authorized in the exit permit or other such distinguishing features." (EMN, 18. April 2013, S. 4-5)
Artikel 223 des Strafgesetzbuchs der Republik Usbekistan befasst sich mit illegaler Ausreise aus bzw. illegaler Einreise nach Usbekistan. Darin wird unter anderem festgehalten, dass eine Ausreise, die unter Verletzung der bestehenden Regelungen erfolgt, mit einer Geldstrafe in Höhe des 200- bis 400-fachen des Mindestlohns oder mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von drei bis fünf Jahren bestraft wird. Eine solche Handlung wird mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von fünf bis zehn Jahren bestraft, wenn die Tat mittels Durchbrechung einer Grenze oder nach vorheriger Gruppenabsprache erfolgte oder von einem Beamten begangen wurde, für dessen Ausreise eine spezielle Genehmigung notwendig ist. Von dieser strafrechtlichen Verantwortung ausgenommen sind ausländische Staatsangehörige und Staatenlose, die sich in Usbekistan aufhalten und deren einschlägigen Dokumente zur Inanspruchnahme ihres verfassungsmäßigen Rechts auf politisches Asyl noch nicht ausgestellt worden sind:
„Статья 223. Незаконный выезд за границу или незаконный въезд в Республику Узбекистан
Выезд за границу, въезд в Республику Узбекистан или переход границы в нарушение установленного порядка — наказывается штрафом от двухсот до четырехсот минимальных размеров заработной платы или лишением свободы от трех до пяти лет.
Те же действия, совершенные:
а) путем прорыва;
б) по предварительному сговору группой лиц;
в) должностным лицом, выезд за границу которого требует специального согласования, –
наказываются лишением свободы от пяти до десяти лет. Освобождаются от ответственности иностранные граждане и лица без гражданства, прибывшие в Узбекистан без надлежащего оформления въездных документов для использования права политического убежища, предусмотренного Конституцией Республики Узбекистан.“ (Strafgesetzbuch der Republik Usbekistan, 2011, Artikel 223)
Der Beschluss des Ministerkabinetts Nr. 8 vom 6. Jänner 1995 regelt in Anhang 1, Punkt I.3, dass usbekischen Staatsangehörigen im Fall einer vorübergehenden Ausreise ein Aufkleber („Sticker“) ausgestellt wird, auf dem die Ausreiseerlaubnis schriftlich vermerkt ist. Die Ausreiseerlaubnis sei zwei Jahre gültig. Staatsangehörige Usbekistans dürfen innerhalb dieser Frist mehrmals aus Usbekistan ausreisen. Die Gültigkeitsdauer des Aufklebers kann nicht die Gültigkeitsdauer des Reisepasses überschreiten. Im Fall einer Ausreise zum dauerhaften Aufenthalt im Ausland wird Staatsangehörigen Usbekistans ein Aufkleber mit unbefristeter Gültigkeitsdauer ausgestellt:
„При временном выезде за границу гражданам оформляется стикер разрешительной записи для выезда за границу (далее — стикер), действительный в течение 2-х лет. В течение указанного срока граждане могут неоднократно выезжать за границу. Срок действия стикера не должен превышать срока действия паспорта. При выезде на постоянное жительство за границу, гражданам оформляется стикер без срока действия.“ (Regierungserklärung der Republik Usbekistan zur Inkraftsetzung einer Regelung zur Ausreise von Staatsangehörigen der Republik Usbekistan und von Richtlinien für Diplomatenpässe der Republik Usbekistan, 6. Jänner 1995, Anhang 1, I.3)
Im soeben zitierten Beschluss des Ministerkabinetts konnten keine Bestimmungen darüber gefunden werden, ob eine Person, die nach Ablauf der Gültigkeit ihrer Ausreisegenehmigung nach Usbekistan zurückkehrt, bestraft wird.
Ein älterer Kurzbericht von Amnesty International (AI) vom Mai 2010 enthält folgende Informationen:
„Illegal exit abroad or illegal entry into Uzbekistan, including by overstaying the permission to travel abroad or failing to renew it, are punishable under Article 223 of the Criminal Code with fines or with imprisonment from three to five years or, in aggravated circumstances, by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Returned asylum-seekers are particularly vulnerable to being charged under Article 223, as many will not have renewed their permission to travel abroad. Other Uzbekistani nationals have reportedly also fallen increasingly foul of the travel regulations while they were abroad, as new regulations, in some instances, have not allowed nationals to renew their permission or exit visas in their nearest Uzbekistani consulate, but rather have required them to do so in Uzbekistan at the local Department of Internal Affairs which gave them their original documentation.” (AI, Mai 2010, S. 13)
In einem weiteren, im April 2009 veröffentlichten Bericht, der sich an den UNO-Menschenrechtsausschuss richtet, schreibt Amnesty International (AI):
„Amnesty International has been particularly concerned about the requirement that Uzbekistani nationals apply for and obtain permission to travel abroad before leaving the country and Article 223 of the Criminal Code which punishes illegal exit and entry of the country, including return to the country after the expiry of the permission to travel abroad. […]
According to the procedures in place, an individual submits their passport and a completed questionnaire to the local Department of Internal Affairs which, within 15 days, returns it with a sticker, valid for two years, authorizing the travel. Citizens who do not have a passport (authorizing foreign travel) are entitled to receive a passport and enabling sticker from their local Department of Internal Affairs, also within a period of 15 days. Throughout the two years of their authorized travel, Uzbekistani bearers of such passports may freely leave and enter Uzbekistan. Amnesty International is concerned that human rights defenders and independent journalists have been refused permission to travel abroad or have suffered long delays in being issued with permission to travel abroad.
Illegal exit abroad or illegal entry into Uzbekistan, including by overstaying the permission to travel abroad or failing to renew it, are punishable under Article 223 of the Criminal Code with fines or with imprisonment from three to five years or in aggravated circumstances by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Returned asylum-seekers are particularly vulnerable to being charged under Article 223, as many will not have renewed their permission to travel abroad (having applied for asylum abroad). Other Uzbekistani nationals have reportedly also fallen increasingly foul of the travel regulations while they were abroad, as new regulations, in some instances, have not allowed nationals to renew their permission or exit visas in their nearest Uzbekistani consulate, but rather have required them to do so in Uzbekistan at the local Department of Internal Affairs which gave them their original documentation. Amnesty International has learned of at least one Uzbekistani national who was prosecuted under Article 223 of the Criminal Code for failure to do this in 2007, two years after the Human Rights Committee recommended that Uzbekistan ‘abolish the requirement of an exit visa for its nationals’. This individual was charged with illegal exit abroad upon return to Uzbekistan and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Although later released from prison under an amnesty, the individual remains under a form of house arrest and under a permanent foreign travel ban.” (AI, 28. April 2009, S. 10-11)
Das Usbekisch-deutsche Forum für Menschenrechte (Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, UGF) schreibt im einem älteren Bericht aus dem Jahr 2010:
„We know of at least two cases in which citizens, returning from long stays abroad, found themselves under criminal prosecution because of delays on their exit visa upon their arrival to their homeland.
In one case, upon her return home in 2008, a student who had graduated from a European university (whose name has been withheld at her request), had her passport confiscated from her at the Tashkent airport. She was charged with violation of the conditions of her exit visa. The facts were that before the end of the academic term, her exit visa had expired, even though the Uzbek embassy assured her that she would be able to return home after the academic term and extend her exit visa. In her indictment, she was accused of traveling, on her way home, to another country to visit a friend. According to Prosecutor’s Office’s absurd version of events, she did not have the right to enter this third country without extending her exit visa. To them, it was not enough that this girl had quit the country on her own time with an exit visa. Evidently, the staff of the prosecutor’s office broadly applied Article 223 of the Penal Code ‘illegal travel abroad or illegal entry into the Republic of Uzbekistan.’ The Article states: ‘to travel abroad, to enter the Republic of Uzbekistan or crossing the border in violation of the established order is punishable by a fine of 200 – 400 times the minimum wage or imprisonment of three to five years’ (Penalties as amended by the Republic of Uzbekistan from 12.15.2006 No. ЗРУ-70). The staff of the prosecutor’s office have equated her arrival in a third country on the way home as illegal travel abroad, which carried attendant consequences for the student.
In another incident, a similar case was brought against another citizen of Uzbekistan who married an American citizen and lived with him in the U.S. for some time. When she decided to return to Uzbekistan to process the paperwork to give up her citizenship, they brought criminal charges against her for violating the terms of her exit visa on the basis that she did not extend her permit in time.
In the end, both women managed to avoid a dire fate at a high cost, refusing to disclose the particulars. They were not successful in expiating themselves from the charges brought against them, but were amnestied, which leaves a mark on their permanent records regardless.” (Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, 2010, S. 13-14)
In einem Artikel vom Jänner 2011 schreibt Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL):
„Uzbekistan is the only former Soviet republic that still requires exit visas. Even Turkmenistan - notorious for imposing travel restrictions on its citizens - abandoned exit visas in January 2002. Uzbek authorities insist that permission to travel abroad is needed to protect the country from terrorism. But Uzbek opposition members and human rights activists claim the authorities use the exit-visa regime to put pressure on them and restrict their contacts with the West. The decision to give or refuse travel permission is taken in coordination between the Interior Ministry and the National Security Service. […] An exit visa expires within two years and the Uzbek citizen is required to return upon its expiration in order to avoid fines or a ban on future travel.” (RFE/RL, 5. Jänner 2011)
Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 18. September 2014)
· AI – Amnesty International: Uzbekistan: Submission to the Human Rights Committee: 96th session, 16-31 July 2009: Pre-sessional meeting of the Country Report Task Force on Uzbekistan [EUR 62/002/2009], 28. April 2009
· AI – Amnesty International: A Briefing on current human rights concerns, Mai 2010
· EMN - Europäisches Migrationsnetzwerk: Ad-Hoc Query on Forced Return to Uzbekistan Requested by BE EMN NCP on 4th March 2013, 18. April 2013
· Постановление Кабинета Министров Республики Узбекистан Об утверждении порядка выезда за границу граждан Республики Узбекистан и положения о дипломатическом паспорте Республики Узбекистан [Beschluss des Ministerkabinetts der Republik Usbekistan zur Inkraftsetzung einer Regelung zur Ausreise von Staatsangehörigen der Republik Usbekistan und von Richtlinien für Diplomatenpässe der Republik Usbekistan], 6. Jänner 1995 (verfügbar auf lex.uz)
http://www.lex.uz/pages/GetAct.aspx?lact_id=426840
· RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Uzbek Activist Sues Interior Ministry Over Exit Visa, 5. Jänner 2011
http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbek_activist_sues_interior_ministry_exit_visa/2268016.html
· Strafgesetzbuch der Republik Usbekistan, 22. September 1994 inklusive Novellen bis 2011
http://www.parliament.gov.uz/upload/files/laws/UGKODEKS.pdf
· Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights: On the laws and practices of the Republic of Uzbekistan regarding the rights of citizens to free movement and choice of residence, 2010 (veröffentlicht von UN Human Rights Committee, verfügbar auf ecoi.net) http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/470_1273656136_ugfhr-uzbekistan98.pdf
