United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Sessional/Annual Report of Committee - Date of communication: 26 October 1995 The Committee against Torture, established in conformity with article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 9 May 1997, Having completed consideration of communication No. 34/1995 submitted to the Committee against Torture under article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Having taken into account all the information communicated to it by the author of the communication, his counsel and the State party, Adopts the following: Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention 1. The author of the communication is Seid Mortesa Aemei, an Iranian citizen, born on 1 February 1957, currently residing in Switzerland, where he seeks asylum. He claims that his return to Iran after dismissal of his refugee claim would constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention by Switzerland. He submits the communication also on behalf of his wife. He is represented by counsel. The facts as submitted 2.1 The author became a People's Mujahedin activist in Iran in 1979. On 20 June 1981, after he had participated in a demonstration by the Mujahedin, he was arrested and kept in detention for 25 days. Thereafter, he had to abandon his university studies. In 1982, he threw a Molotov cocktail into the house of a senior officer of the Revolutionary Committee. 2.2 On 4 April 1983, the author was again arrested and his house was searched. He claims that he was illtreated during the interrogations and, in particular: that he was caned after having his feet and head submerged in ice; that the next day the police officers extinguished cigarettes on his body while he was dressed only in underclothes; that he still bears the scars from those burns; and that his wife was only allowed to visit him after six months. Subsequently, he was convicted for his political activities and for stealing the licence plate of a car, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. 2.3 Seven months after his release, the author's brother-in-law fled the country, and the author was detained for three hours and questioned about the whereabouts of his brother-in-law. The author then moved to Teheran but returned to his home town after three years. In February or March 1989, he was recognized by a client of his father's firm as the person who had thrown the Molotov cocktail seven years earlier. In panic, he fled to Teheran. He claims that his parents were visited regularly by the police and questioned about his whereabouts. After a year, he decided to leave the country, also because his son, who was born on 23 January 1984, had reached school age and he was afraid that his son's enrolment in school would lead to the police discovering his whereabouts. With a false passport he fled http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/de75e94f920bd0a0802565a600537744?Opendocument (73 of 109)16/10/2006 9:54:12 AM