CAT/C/49/D/432/2010
authorities. Furthermore, she presented the transport documents and referred to the
conference only towards the end of her first asylum procedure.13
4.8
The State party submits that the assessment made by the Swiss asylum authorities
during the complainant’s first asylum procedure is not altered by the document confirming
her detention14 that was presented by the complainant to the Committee on 8 September
2010 and that had previously been examined by the Federal Administrative Court.15
According to this document, the complainant had been convicted16 by a federal court,
whereas she did not mention the existence of such a conviction either before the Swiss
asylum authorities or in her complaint to the Committee. The State party also notes that the
document in question is contradictory, because the first paragraph states that the
complainant is charged and, according to the second paragraph, she was sentenced to one
month in prison. In the light of all these elements, the State party seriously questions the
authenticity of the said document. It concludes by endorsing the conclusion of the Federal
Administrative Court17 that the complainant had no political profile prior to her departure
from Ethiopia.
4.9
As to the complainant’s political activities in Switzerland, the State party notes that
the complainant claims to have participated in numerous demonstrations against the
Ethiopian authorities, written articles and contributed to the cyberethiopia.com forum, as
well as held positions within two political movements in exile. The State party notes that
the Federal Office for Migration and the Federal Administrative Court made a detailed
assessment of whether there was a risk for the complainant to be subjected to torture or to
inhuman or degrading treatment on the account of her alleged activities if returned to
Ethiopia. In relation to the complainant’s claim of being a member of AES, the State party
argues that according to the commercial registry, AES is a politically neutral organization
which is involved exclusively in cultural activities. Therefore, the complainant is not at risk
of being persecuted on account of her membership in that organization.
4.10 In relation to the complainant’s claim of being the cantonal representative of
Lucerne for KSOS, the State party notes that her role in this organization was the subject of
the asylum interview by the Federal Office of Migration on 30 October 2009. After having
been unable to describe her concrete role as the cantonal representative, the complainant
finally admitted that there was no hierarchical structure in the canton of Lucerne. The State
party adds that it is also apparent from the minutes of the interview that the role of the
complainant in two events that she attended in 2009 was indistinguishable from that of
many other participants. The complainant was also involved in raising money and
participated in a meeting organized by the Zurich KINIJIT/CUDP.
4.11 As to the articles allegedly published by the complainant on the Internet, the State
party points out that they have also been the subject of a detailed assessment by the Federal
Office for Migration and the Federal Administrative Court. The Federal Office for
Migration took into account the explanations given by the complainant during the asylum
interview and held that, given the number of comparable articles, the articles written by the
complainant would not have attracted any particular attention of the Ethiopian authorities.
The fact that she could provide only superficial and vague information about her political
activities in Ethiopia during the first asylum procedure is yet another element that brings
13
14
15
16
17
8
Reference is made to the judgement of the Federal Administrative Court of 11 December 2008.
See footnote 2 above.
See footnote 13 above.
Emphasis added by the State party.
See footnote 13 above.