Submitted by:M.A.M. (represented by counsel,Mr. Ingemar Sahlström) Alleged victim:M.A.M. State party:Sweden Date of complaint:3 January 2002 The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 14 May 2004, Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 196/2002, submitted to the Committee against Torture by Mr. M.A.M. under article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Having taken into account all information made available to it by the complainant, his counsel and the State party, Adopts the following decision under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention. 1.1The complainant is M.A.M., a Bangladeshi citizen, born on 1 January 1968, currently residing in Sweden, where he has sought asylum. He claims that his removal to Bangladesha if his refugee claim is rejected would constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention by Sweden.b He is represented by counsel. 1.2In accordance with article 22, paragraph 3, of the Convention, the Committee transmitted the complaint to the State party on 7 January 2002. Pursuant to rule 108, paragraph 9 of the Committee’s rules of procedure Rev.3, the State party was requested not to expel the complainant to Bangladesh pending the consideration of his case by the Committee. On 12 February 2002, the State party informed the Committee that it had decided to stay the enforcement of the decision to expel the petitioner to Bangladesh. The facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1The complainant belongs to a minority in Bangladesh and lobbied for their rights through a political organization, the Shanti Bahini. During a meeting of the Shanti Bahini in November 1989, in which the claimant participated, the army attacked, and several of the participants were injured or killed. On 7 May 1990, the police arrested the claimant and detained him for six days. During police interrogations, he was allegedly tortured by use of electricity, burned with cigarettes, stuck with needles and kicked and beaten unconscious. On 19 November 1990 he fled the country for Sweden where he applied for asylum. On 4 October 1991, the Migration Board rejected the complainant’s application. He appealed the decision to the Aliens Appeals Board, which, on 8 April 1993, rejected his application and ordered him deported to Bangladesh. After that, the complainant went into hiding, and it was not until 5 August 1995 that the decision to expel him could be enforced. 2.2Upon his return to Bangladesh, the complainant was arrested and accused of political activity in Sweden. During four days of detention, he was allegedly beaten unconscious and a policeman poured warm water through his nose. The complainant also alleges having been subjected to ill treatment of his genitals, being forced to drink urine, and that police threatened to kill him with a knife. 2.3The complainant became a member of the Bangladesh National Party’s (hereinafter referred to as the BNP) Youth Wing in 1996. He distributed pamphlets, organized demonstrations and in other ways protested against the politics of the Awami League government. He was also a board member in the BNP Mirpur department. 2.4The complainant submits that because of his political activities for the BNP, he was falsely accused of different crimes, and that this is common treatment of political opponents to the Government. On 10 November 1998, there was a clash between the Awami League supporters and the police against the BNP supporters. The complainant was arrested and detained for five days for using violence against the police and for preventing policemen from carrying out their duties. During the interrogations, the police allegedly tied the complainant to a chair, kicked and beat him with rifles and sticks. He claims to have lost consciousness several times during these interrogations. He was released against bail after a hearing by a local court. On 18 August 1999, the complainant was convicted and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Thaka. The complainant subsequently escaped to Sweden, where he applied for asylum to the National Immigration Board (now Migration Board and hereinafter referred to as such) on 4 November 1999.c 2.5On 18 October 2000, the Migration Board rejected the complainant’s application for asylum. The complainant appealed to the Aliens Appeals Board, which, on 18 May 2001, rejected his refugee claim, and decided to deport him to Bangladesh. The Aliens Appeals Board based its decision on the finding that the complainant’s political participation and alleged political persecution did not provide sufficient grounds for asylum since there is freedom of political expression in Bangladesh and the BNP is a legal political party. Although the Board did not question that the complainant was subjected to torture in 1990, 1995 and 1998, he resided in Sweden at the time of the alleged torture in 1992 and could therefore not have been subjected to torture at that time. This made the Board doubt the complainant’s credibility. Moreover, although the Board members were aware of the incidents of police violence against persons in detention in Bangladesh, it did not consider that the complainant in particular risks being subjected to violence as part of a political persecution, and that the general treatment of prisoners as such did not justify asylum. 2.6Counsel submitted new information with two new applications to the Board, which were rejected on 20 September and 29 October 2001, respectively. He submitted that the complainant would be arrested immediately upon return to Bangladesh, since he, according to a fax from his Bangladeshi lawyer, is under investigation for murder, and has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason and anti-State activities on 3 September 2001.