CAT/C/50/D/439/2010
brother was an activist or the exact nature of his brother’s activities, given that such parties
operated in secret in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
2.11 Presenting a final point, the complainant believes that he also runs the risk of being
tortured in the Islamic Republic of Iran simply because he left the country illegally.
2.12 On the basis of the foregoing considerations, the complainant believes that he should
not be returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he would run the risk of being
tortured.
The complaint
3.
The complainant states that if he is expelled to the Islamic Republic of Iran he will
certainly be arrested and tortured by the security forces because of his ethnic background,
his membership in the B. clan and the fact that he is the relative of a politically active
person who is wanted by the authorities (his brother) and is also the head of his family. His
forced return would constitute a violation by the State party of his rights under article 3 of
the Convention.
State party’s observation on admissibility and on the merits
4.1
On 19 May 2010 the State party presented its observations on the admissibility and
the merits of the communication. It noted that the complainant is an Iranian of Arab origin
and that he has affirmed both to the authorities responsible for asylum and to the
Committee that he left the Islamic Republic of Iran because his home had been searched by
the Iranian authorities, who were seeking his brother, a member of the Arab political party
fighting for the rights of the local Arab population. The complainant would supposedly thus
be arrested if he was returned to the country, all the more so as generally the families of
political opponents, and Arabs in particular, are victims of repression, discrimination and
ill-treatment. Furthermore, in 2006 he took part in a demonstration in front of the Iranian
embassy in Bern, where photographs were taken. The fact that he left the Islamic Republic
of Iran illegally would also reportedly put him in danger. Lastly, the complainant has also
stated that in the light of his health problems, it would be unreasonable to force him to
return.
4.2
The State party points out that the complainant entered Switzerland on 15 December
2005 and applied for asylum. On 19 January 2006 his application was denied by the Federal
Office for Migration, which also called for the complainant’s expulsion. On 2 February
2006 the Swiss Asylum Appeals Commission (whose remit has since been assigned to the
Federal Administrative Court) confirmed the ruling. On 23 December 2009 the complainant
filed a new asylum application, which was denied by the Federal Office for Migration on
26 February 2010. The complainant did not appeal against this ruling. Nonetheless, on 1
June 2010 he filed a request for reconsideration of his case; that request was rejected by the
Federal Office for Migration on 11 June 2010. The Federal Administrative Court upheld
that decision by a judgement handed down on 3 September 2010.
4.3
The State party notes that the complainant claims in his communication that in its
judgement of 3 September 2010, the Federal Administrative Court did not assess his
allegation that he would be tortured if returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran, restricting
its review solely to the medical aspects invoked in the case. The State party notes that all
the arguments put forward concerning the risk of persecution in the Islamic Republic of
Iran were assessed in detail by the competent authorities during the three procedures
brought before the Federal Office for Migration. The current communication does not
contain any new elements that might change the decisions taken by the Office on 19
January 2006 and 26 February and 11 June 2010, nor the decisions of the higher authority
issued on 2 February 2006 and 3 September 2010 upholding the Office’s conclusions.
GE.13-45608
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