CAT/C/51/D/426/2010 her family were harassed by the Ethiopian authorities on several occasions due to their presumed allegiance to the OLF. Soldiers searched the family’s house to look for the complainant’s brother, who had fled the country. An Ethiopian soldier tried to pressure the complainant to marry him in order to secure her family’s safety. 2.2 After her mother’s death in April 2007, the complainant fled Ethiopia with her brother’s help. In September 2007, she travelled via Addis Ababa and Rome to Switzerland, where she filed an asylum claim on 13 September 2007. Since September 2008, the complainant has been an active member of the Swiss OLF section.1 She has participated in various public events for the Oromo cause. Photos of her carrying the Oromo flag and photos of her at a meeting for the commemoration of martyrs have been published on the Internet. 2.3 On 10 July 2009, the Federal Office for Migration determined that it could not consider the merits of the complainant’s asylum request, because the complainant had not provided a valid identification document. In a decision dated 26 February 2010, the Federal Administrative Tribunal rejected the complainant’s appeal of the decision of the Federal Office for Migration. 2.4 On 29 March 2010, the complainant filed a second asylum claim, in which she remained content with describing her political activities in Switzerland while also submitting a school certificate and a letter from a former member of the Ethiopian parliament who had known her father. By its decision dated 10 May 2010, the Federal Office for Migration dismissed the claim without assessing the merits.2 The complaint 3.1 The complainant asserts that Switzerland would violate her rights under article 3 of the Convention by forcibly deporting her to Ethiopia, where she would “be at a real risk of being subjected to state persecution and inhumane treatment” due both to her own active participation in Ethiopian dissident activities in Switzerland, and to her father’s and brother’s association or imputed association with the political opposition. The complainant states that she is at risk because the Government of Ethiopia outlawed the OLF in 1992, considers it a terrorist organization and routinely harasses, abducts and mistreats its supporters. The complainant argues that she has become a visible figure in the Oromo exile movement through continued and resolute activism; that she entertains close ties with prominent dissident figures and is a member of the OLF European section’s executive council; that photos of her participating in OLF events and holding the Oromo flag have been published on the Internet; that the Ethiopian authorities have likely taken note of her because her father was arrested on account of his political activism and long-standing membership in the OLF, and her brother fled the country for fear of sharing the same fate; and that the Government of Ethiopia has, through its newly enacted anti-terrorism legislation, recently intensified its efforts to crack down on political opposition and monitor 1 2 On this issue, the complainant submits a letter issued by the OLF European office, dated 25 April 2010, stating that the complainant “has continued her political activities as an active member of OLF Executive Committee in Europe”. (Complainant’s enclosure 2.) In this second asylum decision, the Federal Office for Migration determined that the complainant did not fulfil the criteria to be considered a refugee and contested the credibility of her account. The Office considered the additional documentation provided by the complainant and found that her political commitment and militancy were superficial, such that her return to Ethiopia would not likely interest the Ethiopian authorities. 3

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