CAT/C/47/D/381/2009
Additional comments by the State party
6.1
On 10 February 2010, the State party, referring to the decision of the Federal
Administrative Tribunal of 9 July 2009, mentioned by the complainant in his comments
above, explained that the decision concerned an Iranian complainant who was accompanied
by her two young children and had converted to Christianity before her departure from the
Islamic Republic of Iran. The Tribunal had ruled that her allegations regarding the period
prior to her departure were not plausible and that no grounds had emerged since she had
fled the country to justify the granting of political asylum. Nevertheless, the Tribunal
granted the complainant temporary admission, deeming it not to be in the best interests of
the children, who had completed the greater part of their schooling in Switzerland, to return
them to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Additional observations by the complainant
7.1
On 5 May 2010, the complainant informed the Committee that, on 27 April, the
Federal Office for Migration had granted refugee status to his son Arash Faragollah, born
on 19 September 1983. He had requested asylum independently of his parents and, in his
latest application, of 4 February 2008, set out the risks to which he claimed to be exposed
as a result of his political activities in the Democratic Association for Refugees. Arash
Faragollah had devoted a great deal of time to collecting signatures for petitions,
distributing Kanoun, the association’s magazine, and taking part in a radio project on behalf
of the association in conjunction with radio LoRa. Having started as a technician for
Stimme des Widerstands (Voice of Resistance), he later took over editorial responsibility
for the programme. After assessing all the circumstances, the Federal Office for Migration
found that the profile of the complainant’s son might attract the attention of the Iranian
authorities and that he would therefore have reason to believe that he could face serious
harm should he return to the Islamic Republic of Iran.17
7.2
Under these circumstances, the complainant alleges that the risk he runs of being
subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is greater still, given
that he is the father of a recognized refugee in Switzerland and that he has the same
dissident profile.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
8.1
Before considering any claim contained in a complaint, the Committee against
Torture must decide whether or not it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. The
Committee has ascertained, as it is required to do under article 22, paragraph 5 (a), of the
Convention, that the same matter has not been and is not being examined under another
procedure of international investigation or settlement.
8.2
Noting that there is no impediment to the admissibility of the complaint, the
Committee proceeds to its consideration of the merits.
Consideration of the merits
9.1
The issue before the Committee is whether the removal of the complainant to the
Islamic Republic of Iran would constitute a violation of the State party’s obligation under
article 3 of the Convention not to expel or to return a person to another State where there
17
8
This information was transmitted to the State party on 23 June 2010.
GE.12-40167