UN Human Rights Committee calls on Belarus not to expel Kurdish activist to Turkey

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has enforced interim measures to protect Hicri Mamas, a Turkish citizen currently detained in Belarus, from being extradited to Turkey, where he is facing torture in what he says is a trumped-up case. By doing this, the UNHRC has called on the Belarusian government to suspend the expulsion of Mamas while his complaint against the decision is being examined by the Committee, Human Constanta said.

A Turkish-born Kurd, Hicri Mamas was arrested in Belarus in July 2019 and accused of using a forged passport. He was expected to be deported from Belarus and be barred from re-entering the country for 5 years. Mamas, in turn, applied for international protection in Belarus, but his request was rejected.

In April, the Prosecutor General's office allowed his extradition to his home country, where he is charged with "attempted interference with the unity and territorial integrity of the state." Mamas argues that he did not commit such crimes in Turkey and that he is being persecuted for political reasons because of his involvement in peaceful actions and encouraging young people to join the Democratic Party of Peoples, of which he himself used to be a member.

On Monday, June 1, the Minsk City Court will hear Hicri Mamas’s appeal against the Prosecutor General’s Office’s decision to extradite him to Turkey.

Human Constanta believes that the man should not be extradited to Turkey, because there he is facing torture and politically motivated persecution. Belarusian human rights activists also quote the Belarusian KGB, which earlier admitted that there were no barriers to providing Mamas international protection.