CAT/C/47/D/365/2008 2.3 In 2000, the complainants began to working illegally in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They claim that Afghan refugees in Iran were always denied formal employment. In September 2000, Iranian police arrested the complainants for working illegally and kept them detained for 20 days. The complainants submit that during their detention Iranian police ill-treated and tortured them. 2.4 In December 2000, the complainants were deported to Afghanistan and were threatened with death by Iranian police if they returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran. After arrival in Afghanistan, the complainants were arrested by the Taliban and taken to Kandahar, where they were allegedly tortured, beaten, ill-treated and insulted. The complainants were subjected to torture on a daily basis for about two weeks, which included being electrocuted on their genitals, forced to be naked at night, beaten and dragged through the mountains blindfolded, and threatened with death. They claim that they still have physical and psychological scars as a result of the torture inflicted. The Taliban considered them as enemies of the State, infidels of Islam, and spies, because they grew up in Iran and did not speak Pashto (the language spoken in most areas of Afghanistan). 2.5 The complainants managed to escape the Taliban and fled to Quetta in Pakistan, where they lived for some time with one of their sisters and her husband. In Pakistan, they learned that their mother and other sisters, who had stayed in the Islamic Republic of Iran, had resettled as refugees in Sweden on 30 December 2000. The complainants’ mother advised them to travel to Tehran and apply for family reunification at the Swedish embassy. They travelled to Tehran to start the application process at the Swedish Embassy. 2.6 In May 2001, the complainants had their first interview at the Swedish embassy. After one year, the Swedish embassy informed them that their application for family reunification was rejected because they were no longer minors. According to the complainants, some unidentified officials at the Swedish embassy as well as an official representing the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tehran advised them to travel to Sweden illegally and to seek asylum there. 2.7 In the Islamic Republic of Iran, R.K. was arrested on an unspecified date by Iranian police and deported back to Afghanistan. According to the complainant, when the Afghan police saw the documents from the Swedish embassy, they reacted brutally, and beat him on his head with a Kalashnikov to the point that he almost lost his life. He claims that he was imprisoned, beaten and tortured again in Afghanistan. After a few weeks in jail, he managed to escape by bribing prison guards and returned to Pakistan to join his brother and sister. S.K. travelled back to Quetta, Pakistan as well. 2.8 In July 2003, the complainants’ mother and two of their sisters visited them in Quetta. Their mother obtained false identity papers for both complainants and arranged their marriage with their own sisters so that they could travel to Sweden. They reached Sweden and admitted to the Swedish Migration Board that they carried false identity papers and were married to their own sisters. On an unspecified date, the Swedish Migration Board withdrew their permits to stay in Sweden and they applied for asylum under their real identities. 2.9 On 31 March 2006, both complainants were granted a residence permit by the Swedish Migration Board for one year. After one year, these residence permits were not extended. Their expulsion order was issued on 3 October 2008. 2.10 The complainants submit that they fear for their lives as they are considered as traitors by people in Afghanistan. R.K. claims that he is allegedly “blacklisted” in Afghanistan for his work at the Swedish integration unit as a translator for refugees and asylum-seekers, many of whom were Afghans. He claims that he receives telephone calls from unknown persons questioning him on his work as a translator and asking why he is interrogating people from Afghanistan in Sweden. He explains that he only translates from the Iranian language as he hardly speaks Pashto. He claims that he has received several 3

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