CAT/C/57/D/558/2013 1.1 The complainants are R.D., born in 1973, a national of the Russian Federation of Chechen ethnicity, his wife J.D., born in 1978, a national of Belarus, and their five children, born between 2004 and 2010. The complainants sought political asylum in Switzerland, but their applications were rejected and they were ordered to leave voluntarily by 28 August 2013. At the time of submission of the complaint, they were at risk of deportation to Belarus. They claim that if Switzerland proceeds with their forcible return, it would breach its obligations under article 3 of the Convention. The complainants are represented by counsel. 1.2 On 27 August 2013, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, requested the State party not to deport the complainants to Belarus while the complaint was being considered by the Committee. Facts as presented by the complainants 2.1 The first complainant, a national of the Russian Federation of Chechen ethnicity, lived in Urus Martan in Chechnya until 2001. In 1997, his brother joined the Chechen resistance and was killed in 1999. After his brother’s death, on an unspecified date, the first complainant was visited by members of a pro-Russian paramilitary group called “Kadyrovtsi”, which was, according to him, in coalition with the Russian military. The men were masked and extremely aggressive. They took him to a former school dormitory building and locked him in a basement cell. He was kept there for two weeks, during which time he was subjected to beatings on daily basis and was deprived of water and adequate food. At the end of his detention, he was forced to sign an admission that he had contributed to a terrorist attack in which three individuals had lost their lives. He was released after he promised to spy on the Chechen resistance and he was forbidden to leave the country. Fearing that he would be detained and tortured again, he left the country illegally in 2001 and went to Belarus. 2.2 The first complainant stayed in Belarus from 2001 until 2005. In early 2001, he met and married his current wife. Their first child was born in Belarus. Regardless of the fact that he was married to a Belarusian national, he was constantly harassed by the authorities. His only identification document was an expired passport from the Russian Federation and he was often stopped by the police and threatened with deportation to the Russian Federation if he refused to pay bribes. He was also subjected to physical ill-treatment on numerous occasions. Several times, he was summoned by the police who took away his passport, locked him in a cell and repeatedly beat him up until he lost consciousness. Two or three weeks later, the police called his wife to come and pay “bail” for his release. The amount varied between US$ 200 and US$ 1,000. On one occasion in the summer of 2005, the first complainant was arrested and taken away in a police van in which there were two more Chechens, both of whose faces showed signs of beatings. After a while the van stopped, one of the detainees was taken out, beaten and left behind. A few kilometers later, the first complainant was also thrown out of the van, beaten and left on the ground. Some people found him later and helped him to get to a hospital. On another occasion, he was convoked to act as an interpreter in court for a Chechen who did not speak Russian. When he arrived at the court, he was immediately beaten up by several police officers. He woke up in hospital, but does not remember how he got there. 1 2.3 The complainants submitted that, even at the time of submitting the complaint, police summons continued to arrive at their former address in Belarus. They maintained that if they were returned to Belarus, the first complainant would be arrested, submitted to 1 2 The complainant submitted copies of summonses from the police and testimonies from neighbours and friends in support of his submission.