CAT/C/29/D/204/2002
page 8
Comments by the complainant
5.1
The complainant contests the State party’s argument that the complaint is inadmissible
and submits that the facts of the case are very different from those to which the Committee
previously found inadmissible for want of substantiation.
5.2
The complainant agrees that the Aliens Act reflects the rights protected in article 3,
paragraph 2 of the Convention but argues that the issue is how the State party applies that law
and refers to the fact that the Committee has previously found violations against Sweden of
article 3 on nine occasions.
5.3
The complainant argues that the information provided by the Migration Board to the
District Court advising that there are no impediments to the complainant’s expulsion to Iran, is a
standard response from the Migration Board when a case has already been rejected by the
Migration Board and Aliens Appeals Board. He argues that the Migration Board in no deeper
sense considered all aspects of the risks to which the complainant might be exposed if returned
to Iran. In fact, he argues that in the written judgement of the District Court the expulsion
matters concerning the complainant only cover half a page and deal only with the complainant’s
relationship with his wife and daughter and finds that expulsion is necessary because of the
serious nature of the crime committed by the complainant. Nothing is mentioned, in the
judgement concerning the risk to the complainant if he were returned to Iran. He also argues that
the Court of Appeal judgement gives no indication that it considered the risk connected to his
expulsion.
5.4
On the issue of the complainant having previously suffered torture in Iran, he argues that
the reason he did not mention it until relatively late in the procedure must be seen in the light of
what is known of the psychological effect of torture and should not be used against him. He
argues that, in previous cases, the Committee found that it would not necessarily expect a victim
of torture to declare spontaneously that he/she had been subjected to such suffering and
particularly that it could not expect this type of information to be provided in a coherent and
consistent manner. The complainant reiterates that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder
and adds that after receiving the Government’s negative decision in March 2002, he became so
desperate that he had to be brought to a psychiatric clinic for medical care.
5.5
With respect to the complainant’s political activities, he concedes that such activities
were “low key” but considered sufficiently dangerous for the Iranian authorities to detain him,
even if he was subsequently released. He submits that he worked for the organization
Cherikhaj Fadai Schalg but did refer earlier to working for Mohaheddin. According to the
complainant, as these organizations worked very closely together the difference was small. He
submits that the incident in the park was linked to his political activities, as the guards had
recognized the complainant. He argues that if returned to Iran the authorities will review their
files and investigate the connection between the incident in the park and his links with political
groups. The complainant admits that he gave different information on where the incident with
the guards occurred but that both locations were very near to one another. The complainant also
admits that he was unable to mention the exact date of this incident but that he did inform the