CAT/C/52/D/481/2011
3.4
The complainants refute the credibility and substantiation determinations made by
the Federal Office for Migration and the Federal Administrative Court. They maintain that
they provided documentation confirming K.N.’s active membership in IFIR and the
Komala party, and his political activities in exile, as well as evidence of widespread torture
of Komala party members and extensive surveillance of internet dissidence by the Iranian
authorities. Specifically, the complainants maintain that they provided with their second
asylum application a statement dated 20 January 2009 from Salah Mazoji, a central
committee member of the Komala party who had met K.N. personally.8 Mr. Mazoji states
the following: that K.N. was in prison from 20 March 1982 to 25 February 1987; that after
his release from prison, K.N. was forbidden from going to university and working, that he
was denied all government benefits, and was controlled and observed all the time by
security forces; that K.N. has been an active member of Komala since joining the party in
1989; that on 18 August 2008, Mr. Mazoji asked K.N. to join him in Suleimanye in Iraq in
order to plan future Komala activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that K.N.
subsequently did so. The complainants further report that K.N. was wanted upon return to
the Islamic Republic of Iran by the security forces, who wanted to arrest him and S.N.; that
K.N. and his son went into hiding for that reason and had to leave the Islamic Republic of
Iran with their entire family because their safety was at risk; and that K.N. and his son
risked being executed by the Iranian regime because of K.N.’s activities with Komala. The
complainants also state that after K.N.’s release from prison, he was given an identification
document with which he had to report to the authorities twice a month and was also
required to pledge a parcel of real property as security to the Iranian authorities. The
complainants argue that these measures indicate that K.N. was under the scrutiny of the
Iranian authorities even from the time of his arrest, and that the Federal Office for
Migration and the Federal Administrative Court failed to take these facts into account and
to understand the pervasive extent of Iranian surveillance mechanisms. The complainants
maintain that the Federal Office and the Court erroneously disregarded or discounted the
statements provided by Mr. Mazoji, Mr. Azizpour and IFIR. The complainants state that the
head of IFIR provided an affidavit stating that he believed K.N. could successfully promote
the needs of the Iranian refugee community in Switzerland, and that K.N. should succeed
him as the leader of IFIR. The complainants also contest the Court’s determination that the
summons they provided (issued by the Islamic Revolution Court and addressed to K.N. and
S.N. (attachment 10, thereto attachments 17 and 18; attachment 12) was a forgery. The
complainants further argue that the Court should have taken into account credible reports
documenting human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran: even though those
reports did not relate to a personal risk incurred by K.N., the complainants consider that
they should have weighed in their favour.9
3.5
In a further submission, dated 28 November 2011, the complainants provided
additional documentation in order to demonstrate the “imminent risk of torture” they claim
to face if deported to the Islamic Republic of Iran. They provide an undated signed
statement from Mohammed Amin Pari, Jafar Ghaderi and Loghman Ekthiari,10 who allege
that they were detained by the Iranian military police for 48 hours, beginning on 17 August
2011, on account of their contact with K.N. They state that after long and painful torture
and disrespectful accusations by the police, they were forced to sign a statement providing
that the military police can interrogate them in the future at any time. The complainants
also provide a signed letter dated 19 November 2011 from Meharngiz Khagaz-Kanini,
stating that he had sought asylum in Switzerland and met K.N. there. Mr. Khagaz-Kanini
8
9
10
The complainants provide a copy of Mr. Mazoji’s English-language statement with their complaint.
The complainants cite European Court of Human Rights decision R.C. v. Sweden, Application
no. 41827/07, 9 March 2010.
The complaint and statements do not specify how these persons are acquainted with the complainants.
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