CAT/C/34/D/220/2002 Page 4 2.6 The following medical information was provided referring to the conclusions of several Swedish doctors. Dr Edston concluded that the complainant had been subjected to the following torture: hit with blunt instruments; stabbed with a screwdriver and a police truncheon; burned with cigarettes, a heated screwdriver and possibly a branding iron; beaten systematically on the soles of his feet; attempted suffocation by introducing hot water into his nose; “rolling” of the legs with bamboo rods; sexual violence including rape. He found that the complainant had suffered permanent physical damage in the form of pain in his left knee, reduction of mobility in his right shoulder, functional reduction in his left hand, and pain when defecating. Dr Soendergaard found that there was no doubt that the complainant suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Hemingstam, a psychiatrist, stated that his symptoms were characterized by: difficulties to concentrate; lack of appetite; feelings of agony; restlessness; nightmares; and hallucinations with impulses to commit suicide. She concluded that there is a great risk of the complainant committing suicide if he were subjected to pressure and if his losses his supportive and nursing contacts. According to a certificate from the Fittja Clinic, the complainant feels confused, “disappears” and is difficult to reach during the meetings, and that he has flashbacks of the torture to which he was subjected. A further psychiatrist, Dr Eriksson, confirmed that the complainant was admitted to hospital in May 2001 because of a risk of suicide. She confirmed that he was deeply depressed with a risk of suicide. 2.7 On 4 March 2002, the Aliens Appeals Board, although acknowledging that the scars could have been the result of beatings inflicted by his political opponents, found after consideration of the case as a whole that it was not probable that he was a refugee. It cited the fact that the information about the torture to which the complainant had been subjected had not been disclosed prior to the Aliens Appeal Board, as one of the reasons for questioning the complainant’s claims.1 2.8 In May 2002, another application for a residence permit was submitted, together with further medical information. In two new medical reports of 2 and 9 April 2002, the doctors criticized the Aliens Appeal Board decision and, as an explanation for the provision of information on torture at a late stage in the proceedings, suggested that the support the complainant had been receiving from his psychiatrist had given him the confidence to talk openly about his torture. On 5 July 2002, the Appeals Board refused his appeal on the grounds that the new evidence provided did not demonstrate that he was a person in need of protection. 2.9 The complainant invokes reports by Amnesty International and the US Department of State2 which he claims support the conclusion that police torture of political opponents to extract information and to intimate is often instigated and supported by the executive. The complaint: 3.1 It is claimed that the complainant’s forced repatriation to Bangladesh would violate his rights under article 3 of the Convention, as there are substantial grounds for 1 No further information is provided on the reasoning of the Aliens Appeal Board. Amnesty International: International Report 2002 and the U.S. Department of State (Bangladesh: Torture and Impunity (ASA 13/01/2000). Amnesty International Press Release: Bangladesh: Politically Motivated Detention of Opponents Must Stop (ASA 13/012/2002, issued 6 September 2002). 2