Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 compared to 2005, following an upwards trend since the creation of the CNDS in 2000. Whilst this increase is probably, as the CNDS Annual Report itself notes, due in part to the increasing awareness among the public of the existence and role of the CNDS, the overall number of cases reported each year, give cause for concern nonetheless. A total of 140 complaints were registered in 2006. National police officers (la police nationale) were the subject of complaints in 62% of these cases. The CNDS referred seven cases to the public prosecutor for possible criminal investigation and 15 to the Minister of the Interior for disciplinary sanction. In its report the CNDS also noted “an inflation in the number of charges brought for ‘insulting behaviour’ (outrage), brought in an excessively systematic manner by law enforcement officers”, which figured in 13 of 69 cases involving police officers. The CNDS considered that the offence of “outrage” was being interpreted too broadly by police officers. On 15 May a “government representative” designated by the prime minister was appointed to the CNDS, in line with a recent legislative reform creating such a post. Human rights organisations have expressed concerns that this post could compromise the independence of the body. Asylum According to the annual report of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides, OFPRA) published on 13 March, 2006 was the third consecutive year to register a decrease in asylum applications in France. The number of new applications made was 38% lower than in 2005. The rate of recognition of first instance asylum requests by the OFPRA was 7.8% (2,929 cases). On 5 March the then Minister of Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, welcomed the fall in asylum applications in France during a meeting on immigration, claiming that “the Amnesty International 47 asylum process is no longer a ‘factory for illegal immigrants’”. Human rights organisations, including AI, have criticized France’s policy of “dissuasion”, exemplified by the creation in 2003 of a list of “safe countries” from which asylum claims would be assessed under a fast-track procedure, with a presumption that they were unfounded. The short time frame for making an asylum claim, as well as the complexity of the procedure, has also been issues of concern to AI. Furthermore, the organization has noted that appeals to the Refugee Appeal Commission (Commission des recours des réfugiés, CRR) against refusal of asylum claims have shown a consistent rise in success rates over recent years, currently standing at around 16%, indicating a tendency towards excessively restrictive decisions made at first instance. Immediately following his election as President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy created a new post of “Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development” currently held by Brice Hortefeux. This ministry will take over competency for asylum from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. AI has expressed serious concern that this joint responsibility for immigration and asylum matters will lead to a blurring of perceptions and legal boundaries which could negatively affect the implementation of France’s legal obligations under international law relating to refugees. The case of Houssine Tarkhani On 3 June Tunisian asylum-seeker Houssine Tarkhani was forcibly returned from France to Tunisia. Houssine Tarkhani was, according to information received by AI, arrested at the French-German border on 5 May, as an irregular migrant, and held in a local administrative detention facility (local de rétention administrative) in Metz, pending the execution of a prefectoral removal order (arrêté préfectoral de reconduite à la frontière). On 6 May Houssine Tarkhani was brought before a judge (Juge des libertés et AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007