CAT/C/39/D/308/2006
Page 12
come to such a conclusion without knowing her family and children. She submits that she has
a copy of a decision in which a permanent residence permit was granted to another family
from Azerbaijan only because of their three years old child born in Sweden.
5.3 On the facts, the complainant adds that she was also in the car accident of 10 October
2003 which resulted in numerous injuries of her husband. Although during the second
interview with the Migration Board R. A. could not provide any detailed information about
his reasons for seeking asylum, she answered to the interviewer’s question on his journey to
Sweden. She confirms that as a result of the car accident, her husband suffered from the
memory loss and abnormal speech. He had difficulties in thinking, attention deficit,
frustration and mood swing. After the accident, he acted like a child and it seemed that all his
past experiences were simply erased from his memory. He ‘woke up as a new person and
started living an absolutely new life’. On 17 March 2006, R. A. was diagnosed by a local
physician with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
5.4 The complainant challenges the State party’s assertion that her husband could have
‘consciously obstructed and rendered the asylum investigation more difficult’, as, according
to her, it was clear to the migration authorities that they were interviewing a sick person. She
further refutes the State party’s argument that it was possible for R. A. to obtain a medical
certificate from a doctor alter having deserted military service (paragraph 4.11 above). She
submits, specifically, that in order to get such certificate, he should have explained where and
under what circumstances he had received the injuries in question, which, in turn, would have
prompted the doctors to call for police.
5.5 Finally, the complainant submits that Azerbaijan’s membership in the Council of
Europe does not mean that it is a democratic country. She refers to a number of the OSCE,
PACE, Amnesty International and Radda Barnen publications, 13 and adds that there are
currently ninety thousand of Azerbaijani asylum seekers in Europe. She concludes by stating
that she is not a lawyer to name specific violations of the Convention by the State party but
she is certain that her family cannot return to Azerbaijan.
Supplementary submission from the State party
6.1 By submission of 3 September 2007, the State party recalls that the main task before
the Committee is to establish whether R. A. would be personally at risk of being subjected to
torture on return to Azerbaijan on account of having deserted from military service. It
submits that the complainant and her husband did not adduce any new circumstances or
evidence in this regard. Accordingly, the issue of whether the Migration Board’s decision not
to grant applications for residence permits in Sweden to the complainant’s family under the
temporary legislation on aliens – which were based on their having young children – would
constitute a violation of the Convention, is irrelevant for the proceedings before the
Committee. In addition, the State party contends that the complainant’s statement that many
young men are murdered and tortured during military service is a general and unconfirmed
observation.
13
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media: “I am shocked by arrest of two more
Azerbaijani Journalists”, PACE: “Human Rights and Democratic Principles Abused in
Azerbaijan”.