Ilyas Akhmadov granted asylum in the United States (August 2, 2004)

After the US Department of Homeland Security withdrew its appeal against a positive ruling by the Boston immigration court, Mr. Akhmadov was informed on Monday that he finally received asylum. Apparently the Department of Homeland Security determined that allegations of Mr. Akhmadov's involvement in terrorism (raised by the government of the Russian Federation) were baseless. This decision has been sharply criticized by the Russian government, which continues to maintain that Mr. Akhmadov is connected to terrorist acts. The US State Department has reacted by saying that asylum decisions are not made by the government, but by independent courts.

Mr. Akhmadov, who has been living in the US since 2002, has asked me to convey his gratitude and appreciation to all those who wrote letters and emails on his behalf. He also used the opportunity to ask for our continued help for those Chechens who have not been able to find safety in their homeland or protection abroad.

Invited by the National Endowment for Democracy to participate in its the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program, Ilyas Akhmadov will spend the coming months in Washington, D.C., conducting research and receiving training in advocacy and democracy-building techniques.

The Chechnya Advocacy Network congratulates Mr. Akhmadov on being granted asylum and wishes him a successful and rewarding stay at the National Endowment for Democracy!

For more details, read:

Akhmadov Granted Asylum in the U.S. (Moscow Times)
Asylum decision by U.S. fuels ire (Washington Times)
U.S. Asylum for a Chechen Angers Russia (New York Times)
Moscow slams Chechen's US asylum (BBC)

Department of Homeland security wants to deny asylum to Chechen representative

Ilyas Akhmadov was appointed Foreign Minister of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria by president Aslan Maskhadov in 1999. Finding himself unable to fulfill his duties from embattled Chechnya and being faced with the imminent expiration of his travel documents, he applied for political asylum in the United States in 2002; his case was referred to an immigration judge, who in April 2004 ruled to grant asylum to Mr. Akhmadov. In May 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security appealed this decision on the grounds that Mr. Akhmadov stands accused of furthering "acts of terrorism and persecution." Accused by whom? The government of the Russian Federation, which apparently has persuaded the Department of Homeland Security to pursue the extradition of Mr. Akhmadov.

Russian pressure on the United States to deny asylum to Mr. Akhmadov is part of a larger effort to delegitimize the exiled leadership of Chechnya and to designate everyone affiliated with the Chechen resistance a "terrorist", no matter what their actual record. Russia has also sought the extradition of Akhmed Zakayev, another representative of the Maskhadov government, from Western European countries. Mr. Zakayev was granted asylum in the UK, but Russia continues to formally request his extradition whenever he travels abroad. While European states have resoundingly rejected these requests, the US government has chosen a different path. It is not entirely clear what motivates the appeal against Mr. Akhmadov's asylum (rumor has it that the State Department advised against this move), but it seems that it is meant to be a friendly gesture towards Russia. Another reason could be that the Department of Homeland Security lacks the internal expertise to understand just how contrived allegations of terrorism in Mr. Akhmadov's case are.

Indeed, suggestions that Mr. Akhmadov has been involved in any acts of terrorism were thoroughly discredited by evidence provided during his asylum procedure and rejected as baseless by the US Immigration Court. Mr. Akhmadov, who has not been to Chechnya for years, has tirelessly promoted a peaceful solution to the war in Chechnya; he has rejected terrorist methods and denounced them when employed by other Chechen factions.

As a result of the appeal by the Department of Homeland Security Mr. Akhmadov's case may not be decided for another year or two, during which time he will remain in legal limbo, unable to even visit his family in Sweden, whom he hasn't seen in two years. If he were denied asylum and extradited to Russia, he would face a politicized trial as well as the very real threat of torture and mistreatment.

The Chechnya Advocacy Network considers the appeal by the Department of Homeland Security shameful and blatantly unfounded. It represents a clear violation of the United States' professed commitment to offer protection to those suffering political persecution in their own country.

We are therefore asking you to write to the Department of Homeland Security as well as other relevant government agencies and to demand the retraction of the appeal against the ruling granting Mr. Akhmadov's asylum.

You can use our form letters, write your own letter or collect signatures for petitions.

Department of Homeland Security:
Hon. Tom Ridge
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
download letter

or by email (general request)

Department of State:
Hon. Richard Armitage
Deputy Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
download letter

or:
Hon. Arthur E. Dewey
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
download letter

or by email (general request)

More information about Ilyas Akhmadov:

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria"
The Chechen Times' coverage of Ilyas Akhmadov
Washington Backs Kremlin On Chechen Exile In America (Radio Free Europe)
Two-Faced Chechnya Policy - Anne Applebaum (Washington Post)