CEDAW/C/57/D/39/2012
to the Convention. 7 The author does not argue that the alleged violation of her rights
under the Convention in Mongolia is attributable to the State party. If the author
considered that the Mongolian authorities had failed to protect her, she should have
lodged a complaint against Mongolia.
4.3 To the extent that the author complains that the State party failed to meet its
obligations under the Convention by denying her a residence permit,
notwithstanding the treatment to which she was subjected in Mongolia, the State
party submits that it cannot be held liable for a violation, real or alleged, of the
Convention by another State party. 8 The Committee therefore lacks jurisdiction over
the alleged violations with regard to the Netherlands. 9 Furthermore, the Convention
should not be interpreted as encompassing the legal obligation of States parties
against removal for threats of torture or other serious threats to life and the security
of the person (non-refoulement principle), to avoid overlapping with other
international and European instruments. 10
4.4 The State party further argues that the communication is inadmissible for
failure to exhaust domestic remedies. It submits that the author failed to raise any
allegation of sex-based discrimination or refer to the Convention in the course of the
asylum proceedings before the authorities or courts of the Netherlands. The central
question of those proceedings was whether her removal would constitute a breach of
the non-refoulement principle by the State party. Consequently, the national
authorities and courts had no opportunity to deal with the author ’s allegations
regarding sex-based discrimination and to remedy the alleged violation before it was
brought before the Committee. The State party acknowledges that, whereas the
author might not have to refer to specific provisions of the Convention in the
domestic proceedings, she must have raised the complaint regarding the alleged
discrimination in substance. 11
4.5 With regard to the merits of the author ’s communication, the State party
submits that the obligation to protect stemming from the Convention with regard to
granting asylum to women is no more far-reaching than the obligations arising from
the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Protection afforded by
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7
8
9
10
11
6/16
Mongolia has ratified both the Convention (20 July 1981) and the Optional Protocol (28 March
2002).
Reference is made to general recommendation No. 19, in addition to communication
No. 25/2010, M.P.M. v. Canada, decision of 24 February 2012, para. 4.2; and communication
No. 26/2010, Guadalupe Herrera Rivera v. Canada, decision of 18 October 2011, para. 4.4. In
those communications, Canada argued, in particular, that the Convention did not deal, directly or
indirectly, with removal to torture or other serious threats to life and the security of the person.
Reference is made to communication No. 10/2005, N.S.F. v. the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, decision of 30 May 2007; and communication No. 15/2007, Zhen
Zhen Zheng v. the Netherlands, decision of 27 October 2008.
Reference is made to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Reference is made to communication No. 11/2006, Constance Ragan Salgado v. United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, decision of 22 January 2007.
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