32 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 case Musa and others v. Bulgaria. The case involved Ahmad Naim Mohammed Musa, a Jordanian national of Palestinian descent, who obtained a residence permit in 1994 following his marriage to a Bulgarian national. On 25 May 2000, he was informed that his permanent residence permit was being withdrawn, on grounds of state security, and told to leave Bulgarian territory within 10 days. Ahmad Naim Mohammed Musa was not informed of the factual grounds on which the order had been based, but was told that no appeal was possible against it. He nevertheless submitted appeals to the Ministries of Justice and Interior, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Bulgarian President, which all were dismissed. The Sofia Court declared his appeal inadmissible in September 2001. Ahmad Naim Mohammed Musa was detained on 4 August 2000 and held at the Sofia detention centre until 6 August 2000, when he was expelled by the Bulgarian authorities to Jordan. AI expressed concern at the time that the decision of the Directorate of National Police to expel him from Bulgaria was arbitrary and in violation of international human rights standards The ECtHR noted that it had already held that an expulsion carried out in application of the 1998 Bulgarian Law on Foreigners did not meet the requirement of lawfulness on account of the absence of sufficient guarantees against arbitrariness. The ECtHR also considered that, where matters touching on fundamental human rights were concerned, the national legislation would run counter to the rule of law if, as in the present case, the margin of appreciation granted to the executive was unlimited. As the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) did not amend its case-law in this matter until 2003, the ECtHR noted that the interference in the applicant’s right to respect for his family life had not been “in accordance with the law”. Hence, it concluded unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 8. The ECtHR further noted that, at the relevant time, no judicial review was possible against a withdrawal order of a residence permit on Amnesty International the grounds of national security. There was no reversal of the case-law in this area by the SAC until 8 May 2003. Thus, the ECtHR concluded unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 13. The applicants were also awarded 1,500 Euros jointly for costs and expenses by the ECtHR. Policing concerns In its annual report issued in March the BCH noted that the use of firearms by law enforcement officials continued to violate international standards and that investigations into such use by law enforcement officials remained inadequate. The BHC also reported several cases of illtreatment by police officials, in particular towards Roma. CENTRAL ASIA European Union strategy for Central Asia At the end of March Foreign Ministers of the five Central Asian Republics -- Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – met in Astana, Kazakstan, with the Foreign Minister of Germany, the holder of the six-month rotating European Union (EU) Presidency, and other highranking EU officials, to discuss the EU’s efforts to strengthen its relations with the region. As the EU was developing a new long-term strategy for its relations with Central Asia - which it hoped to finalize and adopt by the end of June - and more attention was being focused on the region, AI encouraged the EU to make human rights and the rule of law key components in its strategy and political engagement with the Central Asian governments. The organization urged the EU to impress upon the governments of Central Asia the need to undertake concrete steps to implement and enforce legislative measures that would provide effective and durable guarantees for the protection of the human rights and the dignity of all the people of Central Asia. AI called on the EU and the governments of AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007