Human Rights Aspects of the Extradition Practice Between Poland and Belarus

In recent years, Poland has received a growing number of extradition requests from the former Soviet states, particularly Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbajdzan, and Ukraine. The persons sought are usually charged with serious offences in their native countries. One of the most frequently employed methods to avoid (or at least delay) surrender to the requesting state is to submit a request for a political asylum to the Polish Ministry of the Interior; the applicants claim they were persecuted for their political activity as opponents of the government in their native country. The fact of the matter is that the majority of the post-Soviet states have a reputation for non-democratic systems and a record of violating political freedoms and human rights. These incidents are confirmed in the reports of international organizations, such as Amnesty International and the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights. Based on these accounts the authorities of the requested state (in this instance Poland) must not completely ignore that the surrender may create a situation where there is a likelihood that the fugitive will be subjected to torture or to inhumane treatment or denied a fair trial in the requesting state. The recent election in Belarus ( October 17, 2004) only confirmed serious doubts regarding the foundations of the democracy in that country...[more]