CAT/C/37/D/277/2005
Page 6
violation to occur, he must demonstrate that he faces a foreseeable, real and personal risk of
being tortured, present an arguable case that goes beyond mere theory and suspicion, and it
rests primarily with the complainant to collect and present evidence in support of his/her
account. The State party sets out the relevant provisions of the Aliens Act and points out that
several of its provisions reflect the same principle as that laid down in article 3, paragraph 1
of the Convention. The State party notes that according to the Government’s Bill 1996/97, an
applicant’s story must be accepted if it appears to be credible, since it is seldom possible for
the applicant to provide evidence clearly showing that he risks persecution. Both the
Migration Board and the Aliens Appeals Board concluded that the complainant was not
credible. It also submits that the national authority conducting the asylum interview is
naturally in a good position to assess the credibility of any asylum seeker's claims. The State
party refers to the UNHCR’s Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee
Status and submits that it is for the complainant to support his statements by any available
evidence and give a satisfactory explanation for any lack of evidence.
4.3 The State party observes that throughout the procedure, the complainant made a
number of inconsistent statements regarding matters of vital importance to the assessment of
his claim. The following inconsistencies were highlighted: firstly, the reasons the
complainant gave for his arrest and the moment of his detention varied considerably in the
statements made to the Migration Board, the Aliens Appeals Board, and the complaint
submitted to the Committee. To the Migration Board he stated that he had argued with an
Imam because his sermon only dealt with historical issues and that a week later he was
arrested; to the Aliens Appeals Board he asserted that he had declared to the imam that he
thought it would be better to convert to another religion and that he was arrested on the
following day; to the Committee, he claimed that he had shouted at the Mullah during a
sermon on homosexuality. There are also a number of inconsistencies in the complainant’s
account of when and for how long he was imprisoned and whether he had been sentenced or
not. The State party notes that during his interview with domestic authorities, the complainant
stated that he had never been sentenced and that he had been imprisoned for 28 months. It
also notes that in his appeal to the Aliens Appeal Board he claimed that he had been
sentenced to 26 months imprisonment after 2 months in detention and finally to the
Committee that he had been forced to sign a confession and convicted to 28 months
imprisonment after being detained for 2 months. According to the State party, the
complainant elaborated on his claim in successive stages, which gives reason to seriously
question its reliability. Additionally, it is noted that there are contradictions in the
complainant’s statements regarding the date of his arrival in Sweden. In his asylum
application he stated that he arrived on 23 April 2002 whereas in his appeal to the Aliens
Appeals Board he claimed to have arrived on 28 April.
4.4 The State party submits further that the Swedish Embassy in Teheran was requested to
provide information regarding the Iranian certificates submitted by the complainant regarding
his detention. The Embassy consulted a legal expert who concluded that the certificates are
almost certainly false. The first certificate, an abstract from a criminal record, contains
information that could not appear in a criminal record, such as the fact that the complainant
was released on bail, and had resumed political activities and was wanted by the police. The
criminal record only contains information about crimes and convictions. Moreover, a person
serving a prison sentence cannot be released on bail. The second certificate which purports to
be a correction of the first one contains information that the person in question was called up
for military service during the alleged term of imprisonment. The Embassy notes that none of