CAT/C/71/D/866/2018
political opponents in exile by means of modern information technologies. It can be assumed
that Ethiopian nationals who are active in opposition organizations abroad can be identified
and are known to Ethiopian security services from the time they arrive at an airport. The State
party notes however that Ethiopian security services focus on individuals who, rather than
engage in low-profile political protest, exercise functions or activities that make them serious
political opponents who could pose danger to the regime in place and whose activities go
beyond low-profile protest. The State party notes that numerous events of Ethiopian
opposition are organized in Switzerland and that group photos, sometimes of hundreds of
persons, are published in the media. Even if Ethiopian authorities are aware of these activities,
they cannot identify and put under surveillance each participant. Moreover, Ethiopian
authorities must be aware that many Ethiopian nationals living in Switzerland for economic
reasons try to obtain a long-term residence card by participating in opposition events. The
Ethiopian authorities are only interested in identifying individuals whose activities are
perceived as a concrete threat to the political system in place.
4.8
The State party believes that in the present case, nothing indicates that the complainant
is exposed in a particular manner because of her activities in Switzerland. Neither her
declarations, nor the evidence submitted to the Committee are sufficient to conclude that she
exercises qualified political activities or that she assumes public tasks that imply
responsibilities. Her political activities are marginal. The commercial registers of the
Ethiopian Human Rights and Democracy Task Force in Switzerland and the Association des
Éthiopiens en Suisse do not mention the complainant as a member of either executive office.
The letters that confirm the complainant’s membership in Ginbot 7, the Task Force and the
association do not prove that Ethiopian authorities have taken an interest in the complainant.
The letters of Ginbot 7 and the association do not provide any indication of concrete activities
in which the complainant has participated, but rather are generic texts with general
information that do not demonstrate that the complainant has assumed a particular
engagement. The letter of Ginbot 7 even refers to the complainant in the masculine form.
While the Task Force letter states that the complainant is a founding member of the women’s
activist group, it describes her responsibilities within the organization in a very general
manner; it does not appear that she has been particularly exposed in public. The
complainant’s allegation that she has been exposed during public events and has been in
contact with high-ranking members of the opposition is very general. It does not appear from
the photos provided by the complainant that she stood out particularly in the group of
demonstrators or the anonymous group of event participants. Her private photos with Obang
Meto, Bezuneh Tsige and Berhanu Nega are not available online. Regarding the availability
on Facebook and YouTube of photos and videos of demonstrations and other public events
in which she has taken part, the State party underlines that while Ethiopian authorities must
be aware of these events, it is not certain to what extent they have identified the complainant.
Even if they have identified her, there is no reason to believe that they have taken any interest
in her and believe that she belongs to the “hard core” of the opposition. The State party
concludes that the complainant cannot be considered as a danger to the Ethiopian regime
based on her activities in Switzerland. The activities are too marginal to substantiate a claim
that the author faces a personal, actual and serious risk of being subjected to torture if she
were to be returned to Ethiopia.
4.9
The State party submits that an allegation of risk of torture is not substantiated if the
complainant fails to provide specific details on essential points and thus to prove that she has
truly experienced the described events. A claim is not deemed credible if, on essential points,
it is contrary to logic and general experience. The asylum authorities concluded that the
complainant’s account of the circumstances surrounding her departure from Ethiopia, the
obtention of a visa for Switzerland, the renewal of her passport in Dubai and the loss of her
passport were not credible. It is illogical and contrary to general experience that while being
aware of the risks she was running, the complainant left Ginbot 7 flyers in plain sight at her
workplace. Neither is it credible that her partner, after discovering that she was implicated in
the opposition movement, threatening her, ill-treating her and forbidding her to leave home,
had left her without surveillance, letting her escape, but had later denounced her to the
authorities.
7