CAT/C/54/D/491/2012
the letters issued by OLF-European Regional Office, which were submitted by the
complainant during the domestic proceedings, do not contain any concrete reference to her
political activities in Switzerland. On the other hand, the letter issued by OLF-Switzerland
states that she is an active member of the organization and participates mainly through
monthly contributions, fund-raising activities, monthly meetings and promotion of Oromo
cultural activities. Hence, the authorities consider that she has not played any major or
important role in the organization, as was confirmed by her statements during the
interviews under the second asylum proceedings.
4.7
The State party submits that the Ethiopian authorities are focusing on individuals
whose activities go beyond “usual behaviour”, or who exercise a particular function or
activity that could pose a threat to the Ethiopian regime. However, the complainant
presented no political profile when she arrived in Switzerland and the State party deems it
reasonable to exclude that she subsequently developed such a profile. The State party
maintains that the documents produced by the complainant do not show any activity in
Switzerland that would attract the attention of the Ethiopian authorities. The fact that the
complainant is identified in photographs and video recordings is not sufficient to
demonstrate that she would be at risk of persecution if returned to Ethiopia. It would be
difficult, for obvious practical reasons, to identify the participants in a large demonstration
if they are not previously known to the Ethiopian authorities.
4.8
The State party maintains that numerous political demonstrations are attended by
the complainant’s compatriots in Switzerland and in other countries; photographs or video
recordings showing, sometimes, hundreds of people are made publicly available by the
relevant media; and it is unlikely that the Ethiopian authorities can identify each person, or
that they even have knowledge of the affiliation of the complainant with the above
organization.
4.9
The State party submits that there is no evidence that the Ethiopian authorities have
opened criminal proceedings against the complainant or that they have adopted other
measures against her.
4.10 The State party submits that, in the light of the above, there is no indication that
substantial grounds exist for believing that the complainant’s return to Ethiopia would
expose her to a “foreseeable, real and personal risk” of torture. It invites the Committee to
find that the return of the complainant to Ethiopia would not constitute a violation of the
international obligations of Switzerland under article 3 of the Convention.
Complainant’s comments on the State party’s observations
5.1
On 30 October 2012, the complainant submitted her comments on the State party’s
observations. She asserts that the human rights situation in Ethiopia has not improved and
that the authorities have tried to brutally suppress dissidents. Journalists and opposition
leaders have been imprisoned under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. During 2011 and
2012, over 100 journalists and political opposition members were arrested and prosecuted
on charges of terrorism and other offences, including treason. In general, human rights
violations, including torture, arbitrary detention and forced evictions, are still widespread,
but are seriously underreported in Ethiopia. Perpetrators of human rights violations are not
brought to justice and punished.12
12
The complainant refers to United Kingdom, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights and
Democracy: The 2011 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report – Quarterly Updates: Ethiopia, 30
September 2012; and Amnesty International, Ethiopia must improve its human rights record to be
credible candidate for election to the Human Rights Council, 28 August 2012.
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