In a May 7, 2008 letter to the Spanish government, Human Rights Watch expressed its deep concern that the government of Spain is considering the extradition to Russia of Murat Ajmedovich Gasayev, in reliance on diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment proffered by the Russian authorities. Murat Gasayev, an ethnic Chechen, was arrested and detained in August 2004 by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Ingushetia and claims that during his interrogation he was tortured and ill-treated, before being released without charge. Human Rights Watch has reason to believe that, if extradited to Russia, Gasayev would again face a real risk of torture and ill-treatment, as well as the denial of a fair trial due to the potential use of evidence extracted from other detainees under torture, and respectfully requests that the Spanish government reject as unreliable and insufficient Russia’s diplomatic assurances in the Gasayev case, halt its efforts to extradite him, and refuse to seek such assurances in any future case where there is a real risk of torture or ill-treatment on return.