CAT/C/48/D/393/2009
the Ethiopian authorities to be members of the Oromo Liberation Front or the Ogaden
National Liberation Front are considered at risk of persecution. With regard to persons
belonging to other opposition groups, such as the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD
or KINIJIT or CUPD), the risk of persecution is assessed on a case-by-case basis, in
accordance with the above criteria. With regard to monitoring political activities of
Ethiopians in exile, the State party submits that according to the information available to it,
the Ethiopian diplomatic and consular missions do not have the personnel nor structural
resources to systematically monitor the political activities of opposition members in
Switzerland. However, active and/or important members of the opposition as well as
activists of organizations campaigning for the use of violence run the risk of being
identified and registered and, therefore of being persecuted if returned to Ethiopia.
4.3
The State party notes that the complainant has not claimed to have suffered torture
or to have been arrested or detained by Ethiopian authorities. It therefore recalls the
conclusions of the Federal Office for Migrations of 22 March 2007, and those of the
Federal Administrative Court of 9 August 2007, which held that the complainant’s
allegations with regard to her arrest in Ethiopia were not credible. It also notes that the
complainant, who allegedly was being persecuted for her political activities in Ethiopia, left
the country with a valid exit visa.
4.4
As to the complainant’s political activities in her home country, the State party
summarizes the conclusions of the domestic authorities, who had examined the
complainant’s case in detail, and concluded that her claim regarding her engagement in
political activities lacked credibility. In support of her claim before the domestic
authorities, the complainant submitted three summonses and a document from the federal
police, which were assessed as lacking authenticity with regard to the signatures, stamps
and authorities who supposedly issued the documents. Furthermore, in the domestic
proceedings, the complainant contradicted herself on important issues.
4.5
The State party notes that the complainant claims to belong to the Association des
Ethiopiens en Suisse (AES) and that as a member of the executive committee, she was in
charge of organizing numerous political activities, including demonstrations. The State
party argues that according to the commercial registry, AES is a politically neutral
organization and the complainant is not registered as a member of the executive committee.
The State party further notes that the complainant had submitted a letter of confirmation by
the President of the “Council of Europe, Africa and Australia Kinijit Support Chapters” and
a photo showing her with Birtukan Mideksa. The State party argues that, according to that
letter, the complainant’s activity was limited to the preparation of the visit of a delegation
of the CUPD to Switzerland. It submits that none of the documents submitted by the
complainant showed political engagement beyond participation in demonstrations, an
activity of most politically active Ethiopians in Switzerland. The State party also submits
that, in view of their limited resources, the Ethiopian authorities are focusing their attention
on individuals whose activities go beyond the “usual behaviour,” or who exercise a
particular function or activity that could pose a threat to the Ethiopian regime. The case of
Birtukan Mideksa is an example thereof. However, the complainant presented no such
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. According to the complainant, she
participated in four demonstrations between 2005 and 2006 and four CUDP/KINIJIT
assemblies between 2007 and 2008. The fact that the complainant is identified in
photographs or videos of participants in certain demonstrations is not sufficient to
demonstrate a risk of persecution if returned. The State party maintains that numerous
political demonstrations take place in Switzerland, that photographs or video recordings
showing sometimes hundreds of people are made publicly available by the relevant media
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