The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area
ROMANIA
The case filed by Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri to the ECtHR against Romania has been
communicated and is still pending before the Court.48 As in his application against
Poland (see the entry on Poland), the applicant claims that he was kept in a secret
CIA detention facility in Romania before he was transferred to the United Stated
detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, despite substantial risk of him being subjected
to the death penalty.49 There has been no investigation in Romania relevant to this
case. The Romanian authorities have claimed that any allegations of secret detention
in Romania are groundless.50
SWEDEN
Sweden reported on two cases against Sweden before the ECtHR that touch upon
the issue of capital punishment.51
In the case of F.G. v. Sweden,52 the applicant, an Iranian national, applied
for asylum in Sweden stating, inter alia, that he has been active in the Iranian
opposition movement and, therefore, risked persecution if returned to Iran. The
Swedish migration authorities rejected his asylum application. The applicant filed
a case to the ECtHR claiming that, if expelled to Iran, he would be at risk of being
persecuted and punished or sentenced to death, in contravention of Articles 2 and
3 of the ECHR. In January 2014, the Court held in its Chamber judgement that
the applicant had failed to substantiate his claims, and that the implementation by
Sweden of the expulsion order against the applicant would not give rise to a violation
of the aforementioned provisions. In June 2014, at the request of the applicant,
the case was referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR, where it is currently
pending.53
48 European Court of Human Rights, Application No. 33234/12, Abd Al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad Al Nashiri v.
Romania, lodged on 1 June 2012, <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/fra/pages/search.aspx?i=001-112302>.
49 The applicant claims that Romania violated Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR and Protocol 6 to the Convention. The
applicant also alleges the violation of Article 13 of the Convention due to Romania’s refusal to investigate his claims.
50 “Lithuania Opens CIA Rendition Investigation”, Amnesty International, 21 February 2014, <http://www.amnesty.
org/en/library/asset/EUR53/001/2014/en/52b2f329-76f1-472f-a649-e05dbfc595af/eur530012014en.pdf>.
51 Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty from the Permanent Delegation of Sweden to the
OSCE, received on 21 July 2014.
52 European Court of Human Rights, Application No. 43611/11, F.G. v. Sweden, lodged on 12 July 2011,ECtHR
Judgment, 16 January 2014, <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/fra/pages/search.aspx?i=001-140020>.
53 Sweden Response, op. cit., note 51.
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