CAT/C/46/D/338/2008
4.10 Regarding the complainant’s past experience of torture, the State party notes that his
request for a torture injuries examination was rejected by the Migration Board. It contends
that he does not seem to have insisted on the examination after that, nor has he had the
alleged torture injuries documented at his own initiative. The medical documentation that
has been submitted by the complainant to both the Swedish Migration authorities and the
Committee, focuses on the complainant’s mental health. The only exception is the two
Discharge certificates from the Dhaka Clinic that certify “cut injuries and laceration
analfimere.” The State party refers to the Committee’s jurisprudence and states that the aim
of the Committee’s examination is to determine whether the complainant would risk being
subjected to torture now, if returned to his home country. It submits that should the
Committee considers it to be established that the complainant has been subjected to torture
by the Bangladeshi police in the manner he has asserted, this does not mean that he has
thereby substantiated his claim that he will risk torture if returned to his country of origin.
4.11 The State party refers to the Migration Court relating the complainant’s sexual
orientation and his family’s knowledge about this. He had had a relationship with his
boyfriend since 1997 and they lived together in his house. He stated that no one found it
strange as it was not unusual for two men to live together. It questions how he was able to
keep his sexual orientation from his family as he had been living for such a long time in a
relationship with another man. It states that homosexual acts are illegal in Bangladesh
under its Penal Code. The sanction may be imprisonment for life. However, according to
the information provided in human rights reports on Bangladesh it rarely happens that a
person is prosecuted under this section. It also adds that the human rights reports do not
support the conclusion that Bangladeshi authorities are actively persecuting homosexuals or
that there is a general need of protection for homosexual asylum seekers from Bangladesh.
The biggest problem for homosexuals is the social stigma that follows for homosexuals and
other persons living outside the social norms of the Bangladeshi society. The complainant
did not submit any documents supporting his claim or otherwise substantiated his claim that
he is currently of interest to the Bangladeshi authorities owing to his sexual orientation.
However should he be of interest to Bangladeshi authorities, he would most probably be
able to live and work in other places in Bangladesh where he is not previously known. The
certificate from the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
submitted by the complainant is not an expert opinion as has been alleged by the
complainant. The same is in relation to the later certificate from the same federation dated
27 January 2007 also submitted to the Committee.
4.12 It submits that in order to support his claim that he risks being persecuted and even
killed by Islamic fundamentalists because of his sexual orientation, the complainant
submitted a poster with a proclamation of the fatwa that has been put on him. The poster
with the fatwa and his face on it has been spread in various areas but he does not know if it
has been spread in the whole country. It submits that the Government in Bangladesh is
secular, even if a religion forms a platform for certain political parties and Shari’a is not
formally implemented. It also questions whether there is a risk that the complainant may
now be of interest to Islamic fundamentalists, considering the time that has elapsed since he
left Bangladesh. According to information available on Bangladesh fatwa does not gain
legal force. However if such a risk exist, it would most certainly be of a local character so
that the complainant would be able to secure his safety by moving within the country. The
State party admits that the Migration Board did not consider the fatwa but the complainant
does not know to what extent the fatwa has been spread and he has no evidence of this
being the case.
4.13 As to the complainant’s claim that Hindus are hindered in their religious activities,
that the Muslims try to get their lands by illegal means and that they are disadvantaged as
regards to access to jobs, the State party submits that the kind of difficulties that minority
groups like Hindus may experience in Bangladesh can hardly be considered to amount to
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