CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 15 avril 2021

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font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } .s4B8D41EE { font-family:Arial; font-size:10pt } .sB6D33163 { font-family:Arial; font-size:10pt; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 }   FIFTH SECTION CASE OF K.I. v. FRANCE (Application no. 5560/19)     JUDGMENT   Art 3 (procedural limb) • Order for deportation to Russia of Russian national of Chechen origin after refugee status revoked on grounds of terrorism conviction • Failure by authorities to take into consideration fact that applicant remained refugee and that non ‑ refoulement principle was applicable • No comprehensive ex nunc assessment of risks faced on his return in light of his being refugee and belonging to targeted group.   STRASBOURG 15 April 2021   FINAL   15/07/2021     This judgment has become final in the circumstances set out in Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of K.I. v. France, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Síofra O’Leary, President ,   Mārtiņš Mits,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström,   Lətif Hüseynov,   Lado Chanturia,   Mattias Guyomar, judges , and Victor Soloveytchik, Section Registrar ;   Having regard to: the application (no.   5560/19) against the French Republic lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Russian national, Mr K.I. (“the applicant”), on 25 January 2019; the decision to give notice of the application to the French Government (“the Government”); the decision not to give notice of the present application to the Russian Federation having regard to the Court’s findings in I v. Sweden (no.   61204/09, §§   40 ‑ 46, 5 September 2013); the decision not to have the applicant’s name disclosed; the decision to indicate an interim measure to the respondent Government under Rule   39 of the Rules of Court; the parties’ observations; ​ Having deliberated in private on 15 April 2021, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The present application was lodged by a Russian national of Chechen origin who had been granted refugee status. Following the withdrawal of this status on account of a criminal conviction for acts of terrorism and the serious threat to French society represented by his presence in France, it was decided to deport him to Russia. The applicant alleged that there would be a violation of Articles   2 and 3 of the Convention if the measure were to be enforced. THE FACTS 2.     The applicant, a Russian national of Chechen origin, was born in 1994 and lives in Strasbourg. He is represented by Mr F. Zind, a lawyer practising in Strasbourg. 3.     The French Government were represented by their Agent, Mr   F.   Alabrune, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE Events in the Russian Federation as presented by the applicant Background to applicant’s departure from his country of origin 4.     The applicant stated that his father, who was now deceased, had been an active fighter in the Chechen guerrilla movement during the first war from 1994 to 1996. 5.     In the applicant’s submission, he was arrested on 20 November 2010 on the pretext of having witnessed an armed robbery. He was taken to a police station, where he was held in custody and beaten on the hand and jaw with an iron bar by two members of the operations / research division of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate General for the Southern Federal Region (ORB), who were guarding him, and he still bears the scars. The applicant was asked to infiltrate the rebels in order to pass on information to the authorities and was told that, if he failed to do so, violence would be used against his family. Despite these threats, the applicant did not make contact with the rebels and was forced to stop going to school. 6.     In May 2011 he was arrested a second time by members of the ORB, then taken to a barracks where he was interrogated about his infiltration into the rebel movement, while being insulted and beaten up. Upon his release, his family hid him and obtained a Russian “external passport” in his name to enable him to flee. This type of passport is an identity document which allows Russian citizens to leave the country and travel abroad, as opposed to the “internal passport” which is an identity document allowing Russian citizens to travel within Russia. 7.     On the day before he was to flee the country, the applicant was arrested for a third time, taken into custody, assaulted and threatened with death. He was released on the condition that he would cooperate with the authorities. 8.     According to the applicant, a medical certificate was drawn up in France attesting to the physical consequences of the ill-treatment he had suffered in connection with his three arrests. 9.     The applicant fled his country of origin in 2011. Before arriving in France, he transited through Poland where he left his Russian “external passport”. 10.     On arriving in France the applicant was granted refugee status through a procedure described below. Fears and threats alleged to remain extant in spite of the applicant’s departure 11.     In subsequent proceedings before the French courts concerning the revocation of his refugee status (see paragraphs 31 and 53 below) and the assessment of the risk he would face if returned to Russia (see paragraph 48 below), the applicant stated that the threats directed against him at the time had not ended with his departure. According to him, several members of his family were confronted by the Russian police, who were still actively interested in him. He relied on an initial witness statement attached to his application form. The witness stated that after the applicant had left Russia in 2011, the law-enforcement authorities had come to his home to obtain evidence of his presence in Europe. The witness had given them the applicant’s telephone number, confirming that he was in France. 12.     The Government disputed those assertions. They observed that the applicant had not provided sufficient proof of the witness’ identity and that the statement had been undated. The Government further noted that, although the applicant had indeed mentioned the events to which the witness had testified, during his interview by videolink on 19 May 2015 with an official of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) in connection with the revocation of his refugee status (see paragraph 27 below), his statements had remained very imprecise. Lastly, the Government noted that although the applicant had mentioned that members of the Russian prosecutor’s office had contacted him by telephone in France and had attempted to talk to him via Skype in mid-2012 (see paragraph 27 below), he had not mentioned any attempt to contact him since then. 13.     The applicant maintained that he still belonged to a targeted group because of his family ties to Chechen fighters and his refusal to collaborate with the authorities. He also pointed out that he hailed from a region of Chechnya on the border with Ingushetia and belonged to a “ teip ” (clan) notorious for being a hotbed of rebel movements against the current regime. In testimony dated 7 March 2019, it was stated that the “ teip ” to which the applicant belonged was called “ melhi ” or “ mialki ” and that it was an opponent of the regime in Chechnya. A “ teip ” is based on a family group whose members are connected by blood but also by economic ties. 14.     The Government contested the applicant’s assertions, stating that he had not established the reality of the risks that he claimed to be facing on account of his family’s past links with the rebels and his refusal to collaborate with the Chechen authorities. Events in France Events occurring before application was lodged (a)    Grant of refugee status to applicant 15.     The applicant arrived in France in August 2011 at the age of 17. 16.     He filed an asylum application on 13 March 2012 and was interviewed by a protection officer on 21 June 2012. The purpose of this kind of interview is to allow the asylum-seeker to fully explain the reasons for his or her application, to supplement or rectify his or her written account and to clarify any grey areas. 17.     On 31 January 2013 the OFPRA granted the applicant refugee status on account of his family ties to individuals who had supported Chechen separatists and his refusal to cooperate with the authorities. In the applicant’s submission, this recognition of his refugee status meant that the events which had caused him to flee Chechnya had been established. 18.     The Government noted that it could be seen from the record of the interview of 21 June 2012 (see paragraph 16 above) that the applicant had provided very little explanation of the steps taken by his family to obtain a Russian “external passport”, particularly in view of the surveillance to which he had allegedly been subjected. On this point, the Government also referred to a subsequent interview with an OFPRA official on 19 May 2015 in the context of the revocation procedure (see paragraph 27 below). Furthermore, in its decision the OFPRA had noted that “the individual [had] stated that he himself had no links with militants and had not taken part in any action in support of the separatists” and that “he [had] not provide[d] consistent or substantiated explanations as to why he was specifically targeted”. However, the OFPRA took the view that the reasons put forward by the applicant to justify the alleged persecution could be considered established since “he [had] nevertheless expressed himself in a clear and comprehensive manner as to the arguments put forward by law-enforcement officers to justify each arrest ... and [had given] details about alleged exchanges with his captors”. 19.     The applicant was granted a residence permit, which was valid from 14   May 2013 to 13 May 2023. (b)    The applicant’s conviction in France (i)       Reasons for his conviction 20.     A little over nine months after obtaining refugee status, the applicant was arrested on 19 November 2013 by the French authorities on the basis of a warrant issued in an investigation into a criminal conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. On 23 November 2013 he was placed under judicial investigation with four compatriots and remanded in custody. He was accused in particular of having travelled to a combat zone in Syria for the purpose of undergoing military training in the handling of military weapons and of having fought as a member of a jihadist group composed of Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush fighters. 21.     On 16 April 2015 the Paris Criminal Court sentenced K.I. to five   years’ imprisonment for participation in a criminal conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism in France, and also in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey and Syria, between 1 September 2012 and 19 November 2013, by preparing and organising his departure together with an accomplice to the combat zone in Syria, with the help of their various contacts, and by travelling to that destination. The judgment recorded that the applicant’s arrest on his return from Syria had been made possible by the interception of telephone conversations relating to a terrorist conspiracy. The Criminal Court also established that the applicant had planned to travel to Syria from March 2013 onwards, together with an accomplice who belonged to an organised Chechen network which arranged passage to Syria. The court found that the applicant had left France at the beginning of August 2013 to go to a combat zone in Syria, where he had remained from 10 or 11 August to 20 or 25   September 2013. The judgment also found that in order to travel to Syria the applicant had passed through Germany, Poland (where he obtained his Russian “external passport”), Ukraine and Turkey. 22.     The Government observed that it could be seen from the judgment that the applicant had used his Russian “external passport”, which had been issued to him by the Russian authorities on 13 July 2011, to travel to Turkey and then to Syria. They also noted that the applicant had gone to Syria with one of his compatriots whom he had met in Chechnya in 2011, having renewed contact with him in France via social media. The Government further pointed out that according to the case file the applicant had planned his departure from France to Syria after his interview with the OFPRA officer on 21 June 2012 but before his refugee status had been granted. They noted that the Criminal Court had sentenced the applicant’s accomplice to imprisonment in absentia and had issued a warrant for his arrest. The judgment also mentioned that the accomplice’s father had helped him leave the combat zone and return to Chechnya, where he was still to be found at the time of that judgment. (ii)     Alleged consequences of French judgment in Russia 23.     The applicant submitted that after the publication of the 16   April 2015 judgment against him, the Russian authorities had renewed their pressure on members of his family who still lived in Chechnya. In that connection he produced two letters that had allegedly been written by a member of his family (see paragraphs 46 and 49 below) and a newspaper article (see paragraph   51 below). (iii)    Consequences of criminal conviction in France: withdrawal of the applicant’s refugee status and order for his deportation 24.     Following the applicant’s conviction, the OFPRA considered revoking the applicant’s refugee status pursuant to Article L. 711-6 2 o of the   Code on the Entry and Residence of Aliens and Right of Asylum (the “Immigration and Asylum Code” – see paragraph 56 below). On 19 May 2015 an OFPRA protection officer consequently interviewed the applicant. This interview was conducted by videolink as the applicant was in prison. The applicant was also invited to submit written observations. The relevant extracts from the record of the interview are as follows: “Question (‘Q’): When was your Russian domestic passport returned to you by your family? Answer (‘A’): When I was asked to present the original documents to the OFPRA, I asked my family to send it by post ..., after that my relatives got in touch with the ROVD [the District Law-Enforcement Directorate] and were able to purchase my domestic passport for 300 dollars. Q: When did they get it? A: Summer of 2013. Q: What did you need your domestic passport for as you had an external passport? A: I had applied for this passport six months before receiving it in order to present it to the OFPRA, after which I had no further use for it, but I kept it. ... Q: Didn’t your relatives ... have any problems getting your documents from the ROVD, even for money? A: You can get anything with money in Chechnya. Q: Even when you are considered persona non grata ? A: It’s not difficult, my [relatives] contacted an acquaintance who knew the head of the ROVD ... who was able to recover my passport because he was no longer in the ROVD. ... Q: What are your current fears in the event of your return ... ? A: I was arrested several times, I was threatened, I was asked to collaborate, I ran away, that’s why I can’t go back. Q: What news have you had about this from your family there? A: Relatives tell me that there is still surveillance, people come to ask questions. Q: People? A: They don’t introduce themselves but they wear civilian clothes; when I arrived in France, I was contacted by the public prosecutor’s office. Q: Which prosecutor’s office? A: Russian, they said they were employees of the public prosecutor’s office. Q: They came to France? A: They were able to get my French number and that’s how they contacted me. Q: When? A: When I arrived in 2011. Q: And since then? A: Mid-2012 they asked me to go with them and to talk via Skype. Q: About what? A: I don’t know, I didn’t get in touch. ... Q: Have you had any political, associative or religious involvement in the Chechen community in France? A: No, I don’t know many people, I don’t have many contacts and I’ve only been here a short time. Q: Do you still have contacts with Chechnya? A: With my relatives, yes, by phone. Q: Any contact with the Russian, Chechen authorities? A: No, no contact.” 25.     On 18 November 2015 the prefect of Essonne issued a deportation order against the applicant on the basis of the serious threat that K.I. represented for public safety (see paragraph 24 above) and further set directions as to the destination country. 26.     On 14 January 2016 the applicant lodged an appeal with the Versailles Administrative Court seeking to have the deportation order of 18   November 2015 set aside (see paragraph 25 above). 27.     On 23 June 2016 the OFPRA revoked K.I.’s refugee status under Article L. 711-6 2 o of the Immigration and Asylum Code (see paragraph 56 below) on the grounds that he had been convicted with final effect in France for a terrorism offence and that his presence in France constituted a serious threat to society. The OFPRA found, in particular, that it was clear from the reasoning of the judgment of 16 April 2015 that, between 1 September 2012 and 19 November 2013, the applicant had participated, via a transnational network linked to the Chechen Islamist movement with branches in several European countries and in France, in fundraising for militant groups in Syria, and that, once he had arrived in that country, he had been supported, armed and trained. The OFPRA also found that he had taken up arms in the context of a radical religious commitment described by the applicant as “Salafist”. The applicant submitted that it could be seen from the record of his OFPRA interview on 19 May 2015 (see paragraph 24 above) that he had not been asked about his beliefs, his state of mind, any possible regrets or his religious practice. 28.     On 14 December 2016 K.I. lodged an appeal with the National Asylum Court (CNDA), seeking the setting-aside of the OFPRA’s decision of 23 June 2016 (see paragraph 27 above). In its defence, the OFPRA submitted that this appeal should be dismissed. It argued, primarily, that the exclusion clause provided for in Article 1F   (a) of the Geneva Convention should be applied to the applicant on the grounds that the actions attributable to the armed group that he had joined in Syria, at the time of the military offensive known as “operation coastal liberation” in August 2013, were comparable to crimes against humanity and war crimes, and that the acts of terrorism for which he had been convicted in France could be characterised as acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations within the meaning of paragraph (c) of Article   1F. In the alternative, the OFPRA argued that his presence in France constituted a serious threat to State security and to society within the meaning of Article   L. 711-6 2 o of the Immigration and Asylum Code (see paragraph 56 below). 29.     In a judgment of 7 March 2017, the Versailles Administrative Court set aside the decision specifying Russia as the country of destination (see paragraph 25 above) on the grounds, firstly, that it contained insufficient reasoning, particularly with regard to the risks of inhuman or degrading treatment to which the applicant could be exposed if he were returned to his country of origin and, secondly, that the applicant, who still had refugee status at the date of the impugned decision, could not therefore be legally removed to Russia. 30.     Since his release from prison on 11 December 2017, the applicant has been placed under a compulsory residence order. According to him, he has been obliged to report to the police station three times a day. 31.     On 11 January 2019 the CNDA confirmed the OFPRA’s decision to revoke the applicant’s protection (see paragraph 27 above). The CNDA ruled on the application of Article L. 711-6 2 o of the Immigration and Asylum Code (see paragraph 56 below). In particular, it found as follows: “... 8.     ... the Director General of the OFPRA revoked [the applicant’s] refugee status by a decision dated 23 June 2016. ... [This] decision also notes that it is clear from the reasoning of the judgment that the applicant had, during the period covered by the charges, taken part, within a transnational network linked to the Chechen Islamist movement, with branches in several European countries, in particular Poland and Belgium, and at several points in France, in fundraising for groups fighting in Syria, in particular Jaish Al-Muhajreen Wal Ansar (‘the army of emigrants and supporters’). Part of the funds collected were intended to finance his own departure for Syria in the company of another defendant ... which took place on 10 or 11 August 2013, and was facilitated by the same network, following meticulous and prolonged preparations ... 9.     At the hearing, which was held in camera , [the applicant], while acknowledging that he had travelled to Syria in August 2013, maintained that it had been for humanitarian purposes. He acknowledged that he had gone to Poland to recover his passport, which he had left there before travelling to France in August 2011 to apply for asylum when he was seventeen years old. Without explaining in detail which Polish office he had gone to in order to obtain this document, he told the court that he had needed his passport in order to travel to Turkey and from there to Syria and to be able to move more freely. He then made confusing and insincere statements about the conditions of his entry into Syrian territory to join the Ansar Al Sham group, composed of Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush fighters, which was part of the jihadist conglomeration operating in Syria at the time and led by Aslan Alievitch Sigaouri, known as Djambulat or Khalid-Chechen. In the course of the judicial proceedings, the applicant stated that it was the same Djambulat who had picked him up at the Turkish-Syrian border. He confirmed his links with the Chechen leader, as he had already stated during his judicial hearings, indicating in particular that Djambulat knew the father of the other young jihadist accompanying him, as they came from the same village. [The applicant] thus stated that he had been easily accepted by the other fighters as a result. ... 10. Secondly, in addition to the seriousness of the offences constituting acts of terrorism, as highlighted by [the applicant’s] criminal conviction handed down in France after he had been recognised as a refugee, the regrets he expressed about those misdeeds appeared to be spurious, since, as already stated, he had attempted to conceal both the real circumstances that had led to his departure for Syria and the activities in which he had engaged after his arrival there. The criminal judgment in his file thus clearly highlights the ideological motivations behind his journey and, in particular, his desire to wage armed jihad. During the court proceedings, his aunt also indicated that he had begun to radicalise his religious practice a year after his arrival in France and that he was taking Arabic lessons several times a day ... Consequently, the nature and seriousness of the acts for which he was convicted and all the elements relating to his career since his arrival in France lead to the conclusion that his presence now constitutes a serious threat to society within the meaning of Article L. 711-6, 2 o of the Immigration and Asylum Code. Consequently, [the applicant] cannot validly argue that the Director General of the OFPRA wrongly revoked his refugee status pursuant to the provisions of Article L. 711-6, 2 o of the above-mentioned Immigration and Asylum Code or request, as a result, that he continue to be recognised as a refugee ...” Events occurring after the application was lodged with the Court 32.     On 25 January 2019 the applicant asked the Court to indicate an interim measure, under Rule 39 of its Rules of Court, to stop the French Government from deporting him to Russia. 33.     On 28 January 2019 the duty judge decided to grant the applicant’s request for an interim measure on a temporary basis until 4 February 2019 and to ask the Government, in accordance with Rule 54 § 2 (a), to provide information. This information related to whether there was a new decision determining the destination country, to the timetable for his removal to Russia and to the consideration by the domestic authorities of the risks of treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention in the event of his return to his country of origin. 34.     On 28 January 2019, while still under a compulsory residence order, the applicant was arrested. The prefect of Seine-Maritime issued an order for his placement in the Lille Lesquin administrative detention centre in order to ensure the enforcement of the deportation order. The applicant was notified of this order at 9.15 a.m. He was placed in a “terrorism” wing in the centre. 35.     On the same day, the prefect of Seine-Maritime wrote to the Russian ambassador in France to request that a consular laissez-passer be issued to the applicant. In this letter, she pointed out that the embassy had already been sent a request on 26 October 2017, by the prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, to identify the person concerned, together with a comprehensive file. 36.     On 30 January 2019 the Government replied to the duty judge’s request for information. They stated that, in the absence of a decision on the country of destination, it was legally impossible to remove the applicant. The risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention would be assessed by the domestic authorities when adopting the decision and that, in any event, it would be possible to bring proceedings in the Administrative Court to seek interim relief or to have the decision set aside. The applicant, to whom this information was notified, emphasised that his removal had necessarily been scheduled, as placement in administrative detention was only possible under the first paragraph of Article L. 554-1 of the Immigration and Asylum Code “for the duration strictly necessary [for] departure”. He also pointed out that an appeal against a decision determining the country of destination did not have suspensive effect (see paragraph 69 below). 37.     On 30 January 2019 the Liberties and Detention Judge of the Lille tribunal de grande instance ordered the extension of the applicant’s detention for a period of twenty-eight days and the order was upheld by the Douai Court of Appeal on 1 February 2019. 38.     On 4 February 2019 the Court’s duty judge decided to discontinue the application of Rule 39, in the light of the information supplied by the parties (see paragraph 36 above), and informed the applicant that his request was premature because there was no enforceable decision on his removal, the deportation order not yet being accompanied by directions as to the destination country. 39.     On 25 February 2019 the prefect of Seine-Maritime set directions determining the Russian Federation as the destination country, or any country to which the applicant would be legally admitted. The decision stated that the applicant had claimed that he did not wish to return to Russia because his life was in danger there, but that he had not provided any evidence to establish that he faced a real and serious personal risk of being exposed to treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention. 40.     On 27 February 2019 the applicant filed a fresh request for an interim measure with the Court. On the same day, the duty judge decided to temporarily apply Rule 39 again, up to and including 8 March 2019. 41.     On 1 March 2019 the urgent applications judge of the Lille Administrative Court dismissed an urgent application lodged by the applicant on 27 February 2019, under Article L. 521-2 of the Code of Administrative Justice (urgent applications for the protection of a fundamental freedom), seeking a stay of execution of the order of 25   February 2019 (see paragraph 39 above). The urgent applications judge held that the condition of urgency had not been met in so far as the Court had indicated to the Government that the applicant should not be removed before 8 March 2019. The judge added that, in any event, the Russian consulate had not yet issued a consular laissez-passer for the purposes of enforcing his removal. 42.     On 5 March 2019 the Government replied to the duty judge’s request for information. They stated that the applicant’s request for interim measures was premature in that, despite the country of destination being determined by the order of 25 February 2019 (see paragraph 39 above), the Russian authorities had not yet agreed to readmit the applicant to their country. 43.     In an email of 7 March 2019, which was forwarded to the Court by the applicant, one of his relatives alerted his lawyer to the fact that members of his family had been summoned the previous day by the authorities to the Grozny police station, where officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) had questioned them about his whereabouts. The officers had apparently explained their presence by the fact that the French authorities had asked their Russian counterparts to “fetch” the applicant. The Government noted that the applicant had not shown that he was connected to the author of the email and had not provided any information about his or her identity. 44.     On 8 March 2019, in the light of the information provided by the parties, the duty judge decided to extend the application of Rule 39 while the application was being examined by the Court. 45.     On 21 March 2019 the legal aid board of the Conseil d’État awarded legal aid to the applicant in connection with his appeal against the CNDA’s decision of 11 January 2019 concerning the revocation of his refugee status (see paragraph 31 above). 46.     According to a witness statement written by a member of his family and appended by the applicant to the application form received by the Court on 28 March 2019, Chechen law-enforcement officers had visited the witness’s home on several occasions since the applicant’s conviction in France in order to inquire about his possible return to Chechnya (see paragraph 23 above). The Government noted that the letter was undated and that the applicant had not shown any connection to its author. 47.     On 30 April 2019 the Liberties and Detention Judge of the Paris tribunal de grande instance extended the applicant’s administrative detention for a further month. The judge found that the Russian consular authorities had recognised the applicant as one of their nationals, that a consular laissez-passer had been issued to him for the period from 12 April to 12 May 2019 and that the prefecture had, on 24 April 2019, requested a flight to the Russian Federation for 11 May 2019 at the latest. 48.     On 16 May 2019 the Lille Administrative Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the directions of 25 February 2019 specifying Russia as the destination country (see paragraph 39 above) on the following grounds: “6.     ... However, [the applicant’s] refugee status was revoked by a decision of the same office dated 23 June 2016, confirmed by a decision of the National Asylum Court on 11 January 2019. [The applicant] was convicted by the Paris Criminal Court for acts committed as a result of his involvement with and support for a group of Chechen Islamist fighters in Syria. 7.     It is for the applicant to adduce evidence to show that there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be exposed to a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention if returned to his country. ... 8.     In the present case, [the applicant] entered France in 2011 and he no longer appears to have – and thus has not demonstrated – links with persons belonging to a group considered to be at risk in Chechnya. However, the report of the Swiss refugee aid organisation of 13 May 2016 on the human rights situation in Chechnya shows that individuals who have a link with insurgents, even if it goes back a long time, are considered to be at risk, that persons who are returned to Chechnya face an acute risk if they have previously been convicted there – which is not the case of the applicant – and that, lastly, Salafism is prohibited and persons linked to the Islamic State, acting on Chechen territory, are particularly liable to arrest. However, a more recent report of August 2018 by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) notes that those returning from Syria are monitored on their return by the Russian authorities but that the Chechen authorities have set up reception programmes for women and children but also for some fighters repatriated from Syria. 9.     [The applicant], in order to show the real and personal risks he would face in the event of his return, confines himself to producing the testimony of a person whom he presents as his grandmother, but without proving that family relationship. He has also appended an email from a person he claims to be his cousin, but whose identity he has not proven, reporting what his grandmother and his aunt said. Moreover, these testimonies only attest to the fact that the Russian intelligence services had enquired about the applicant’s return. However, there is no evidence that the applicant, who used his Russian passport to reach Turkey and the Syrian combat zone, is wanted or has been charged in his country. It follows from the foregoing that, while it is possible that [the applicant] has been identified as being part of a group that is under surveillance in his country, he has not demonstrated, in the proceedings to date, that he would be subjected to ill-treatment of a real and personal nature if he is returned to that country. Consequently, the ground of appeal alleging an error of assessment must be rejected. Similarly, it does not follow from the foregoing, nor from the terms of the decision, that the administrative authority did not carry out a thorough examination of the applicant’s personal situation ...” 49.     In a second statement (see paragraph 23 above) sent by the applicant to the Court on 3 January 2020, the witness in question claimed that since the applicant had been imprisoned in France, ORB agents working for the regime in Chechnya had visited his home. In this regard, he stated that in 2014-15 two police officers had come to his home to ask him questions about the applicant. They had allegedly accused the witness of complicity in terrorism for having sent money to the applicant in October 2013 and had threatened him with prosecution on that account. The witness further stated that around June 2017, six months before the applicant’s release, two police officers had come to his home to inform him that his extradition would be requested. The witness further stated that he and a relative had been summoned at the end of February 2019 to the District Security Directorate in the city of Grozny, where an agent of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) had made it clear to them that the applicant would be imprisoned as soon as he arrived on Russian soil. In addition, the Chechen police officers had questioned them about the applicant’s activities since his release from prison, his contacts and his possible plans to return to Russia. The witness also reported that a Chechen who had refugee status in Germany and who was allegedly one of the applicant’s friends had been arrested and imprisoned as soon as he arrived in Russia after going there to get married. 50.     The Government noted that the statement sent to the Court on 3   January 2020 was undated. 51.     The applicant also produced a newspaper article reporting on his friend’s trial (see paragraph 49 above) and stating that his confession had been obtained under torture. The Government noted that the newspaper article did not mention that other persons had been involved and that the applicant had not provided any explanation about his connection with the person whom he presented as one of his friends (see paragraph 49 above). 52.     On 26 May 2020 the prefect of Dordogne issued a compulsory residence order against the applicant with a requirement to report to the police station three times a day. 53.     On 29 July 2020 the Conseil d’État , under Article L. 822 ‑ 1 of the Code of Administrative Justice (see paragraph 70 below) dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the decision of the CNDA of 11 January 2019 upholding the OFPRA’s decision to revoke his refugee status (see paragraph   31 above). In seeking to have that decision set aside, the applicant had alleged that it was vitiated by an initial error of law in so far as the CNDA had relied on the provisions of Article L. 711-6 of the Immigration and Asylum Code, which incorrectly transposed Directive 2011/95/EU (see paragraph 73 below) “by equating the loss of refugee status with the fact of no longer being a refugee”, and by a second error of law in so far as the CNDA had ruled that the application of Article L. 711-6 of the Immigration and Asylum Code meant both that his refugee status was withdrawn and that he was no longer a refugee (see in this connection the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) cited in paragraphs 74 to 76 below and that of the Conseil d’État cited in paragraphs   61 and 62 below). In his submissions in respect of the decision of 29 July 2020, the public rapporteur before the Conseil d’État stated the following on the relevant ground of appeal: “Contrary to what is maintained in the additional observations, the court did not fail in its judicial duty or commit an error of law with regard to this case-law, which only prohibits it, when it hears an appeal against a measure revoking refugee status taken on the basis of Article L. 711-6 of the Immigration and Asylum Code, from automatically deciding that the applicant is no longer a refugee on the basis of Article   L. 711-4 of the same Code. That is not what it did, although the OFPRA had asked it to do so. Although in its reasoning it awkwardly states, in fine , that [the applicant] is not justified in asking that he should still be regarded as a refugee, this is a defect that is not repeated either under the other grounds, which do not mention Article L. 711-4 at any point, or in the operative part, which simply rejects the appeal. The applicant can rest assured that he is still a refugee, and this observation remains valid without it being necessary to allow the appeal.” 54.     The Government explained that the applicant, who was still under a compulsory residence order, had been granted accommodation and financial support by the State. 55.     The applicant alleged that he only had two close relatives still in Chechnya and that the male members of his family had either died or were beneficiaries of international protection in Europe. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE Domestic law on cessation of refugee status under Article L.   711 ‑ 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Code (a)    Legislation 56.     The Immigration and Asylum Code (see paragraph 24 above), as then applicable, read as follows: Article L. 513-2 “Where a deportation or removal order is in force against an alien, directions shall be given for his or her removal: 1     To a country of which he or she is a national, save where the French authority for the protection of refugees and stateless persons or the National Asylum Court has granted him or her refugee status or subsidiary protection, or where his or her asylum application is still pending; 2     Or, pursuant to a European Communities or bilateral readmission agreement or arrangement, to the country which has issued the alien with a currently valid travel document; 3     Or, with the alien’s agreement, to any country to which he or she may be legally admitted. An alien may not be removed to a country if he or she has shown that his or her life or freedom would be threatened there, or that he or she would be exposed there to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950.” Article L.   711-1 “ Recognition as a refugee shall be accorded to any person who is persecuted on account of his or her activities in furtherance of freedom and to any person in respect of whom the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees exercises its mandate under the terms of Articles 6 and 7 of its Statute as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1950, or who meets the criteria laid down in Article 1 of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the Status of Refugees. Such persons shall be governed by the applicable provisions concerning refugees laid down in the above-mentioned Geneva Convention.” Article L.   711-4 “... The authority [for the protection of refugees and stateless persons] may also revoke refugee status, at any time, of its own motion or at the request of the administrative authorities, where: ... 3     The refugee must, in view of circumstances arising after this status was granted, be excluded from such status pursuant to Article 1D, 1E or 1F of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951, cited above.” Article L.   711-6 “A person’s refugee status may be denied or revoked: 1     Where there are serious reasons for considering that the person’s presence in France constitute