United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Sessional/Annual Report of Committee -
Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, which attest to a continuing violation of all basic
human rights.
State party's submission and counsel's comments
5.1 By submission of 30 May 1996, the State party informs the Committee that, following its request
under rule 108, paragraph 9, the Swedish Immigration Board has decided to stay the expulsion order
against the author.
5.2 As regards the domestic procedure, the State party explains that the basic provisions concerning the
right of aliens to enter and to remain in Sweden are found in the 1989 Aliens Act. For the determination
of refugee status there are normally two instances, the Swedish Immigration Board and the Aliens
Appeal Board. In exceptional cases, an application is referred to the Government by either of the two
boards. Chapter 8, section 1, of the Act corresponds with article 3 of the Convention against Torture and
states that an alien who has been refused entry or who is to be expelled may never be sent to a country
where there is firm reason to believe that he or she would be in danger of suffering capital or corporal
punishment or of being subjected to torture, nor to a country where he is not protected from being sent
on to a country where he would be in such danger. Further, under chapter 2, section 5, subsection 3, of
the Act, an alien who is to be refused entry or expelled, can apply for a residence permit if the
application is based on circumstances which have not previously been examined in the case and if either
the alien is entitled to asylum in Sweden or it will otherwise be in conflict with humanitarian
requirements to enforce the decision on refusal of entry or expulsion.
5.3 As to the facts of the instant case, the State party explains that the author arrived in Sweden on 7 July
1990 and applied for asylum when interrogated by the police. He had no passport and his identity was
unclear. He stated that he had not been politically active but that he had carried out propaganda for the
royalists when fulfilling his military service. He also said that he had travelled from Iran through Turkey
to Sweden. The day after his arrival, a letter was found at the airport addressed to the author at a Swiss
address, containing a false Spanish passport with the author's photograph in it. When questioned, the
author stated that it could have been the passport used for him by the person who helped him to get to
Stockholm. The person and he were allegedly separated at the airport in Copenhagen. No further
explanations were given by the author about the Swiss address.
5.4 Since then, the State party submits, the grounds invoked by the author for political asylum have
changed considerably. The State party submits that his statements at different points in time have been
inconsistent and contradictory. Furthermore, it was not until his appeal that he made any statements
regarding having been tortured. The State party emphasizes that all interrogations took place with an
interpreter in the author's mother tongue.
6. The State party argues that the communication is inadmissible for being incompatible with the
provisions of the Convention. It also contends that an argument can be made that domestic remedies
have only been exhausted once the expulsion order has been carried out.
7.1 As to the merits of the communication, the State party refers to the Committee's jurisprudence in the
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/de75e94f920bd0a0802565a600537744?Opendocument (62 of 109)16/10/2006 9:54:12 AM
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