CAT/C/53/D/482/2011 therefore reported the visit to the police. Upon their return from the police station, one of the men was again circling the house in a car. The police arrested him and informed the complainants that he had been in possession of an iron bar. The family was then called to the police station to confirm that this was indeed the man who had previously called at their house. The police told the complainants to be careful, as the suspect was known by the police to have killed his wife and a friend. A car continued to circle the house and the complainants continued to receive telephone calls in which they were warned that if V.S. did not return home, his wife, his mother, his father and his sister would all be killed. One night, a man entered the yard of the family home and opened fire with an automatic rifle. The family called the police but they did not come to the scene. 2.8 On 3 November 2007, while V.S.’s father was walking along a road in the village, a car drew up close to him, and five shots were fired in his direction. The police came to the scene and said that a suspect was being investigated. They asked the complainants to be careful. A few days later, the threatening telephone calls resumed. 2.9 On 25 January 2008, V.S.’s father was found on one of the village streets with “his head sliced in two”.3 His daughter, E.S., took him to hospital where he died shortly after his arrival. The police came to the hospital with a photograph of the suspect, and E.S. recognized him as the man who had previously been making threats. The man was arrested four days later. An officer from the investigative police advised E.S. not to file a complaint because the suspect’s gang was at liberty and could harm her. E.S. stood by her complaint and requested police protection for seven days (the traditional mourning period). Although the police agreed to the request, no patrol was sent out. Criminal proceedings were initiated against the prime suspect on the basis of testimony given by E.S. and her cousins. The suspect was taken into custody and held for a month, and then for a further 60 days, but was then released for lack of evidence.4 2.10 Following this murder, the police advised R.S, E.S. and B.S. to move elsewhere. The complainants were reluctant to turn to the international police for help. As the threatening telephone calls continued and a car was still circling their home, they went to spend two months at the home of H.S., who had already left for Switzerland. Another cousin who had helped members of the family in their dealings with the police also had to leave the country and went to Austria. After his departure, the women moved house again, but the threats continued. R.S. was threatened with death and E.S. with abduction. E.S. was the only one who ever left the house, and then only in case of urgent need and accompanied by cousins. One day, she noticed that the car belonging to the man suspected of her father’s murder was following her. Feeling constantly in danger, R.S., E.S. and B.S. decided to leave the country on 6 June 2008 with the help of a people-smuggler. On 16 June 2008, they arrived in Switzerland, where they applied for asylum. 2.11 On 16 May 2008, the Federal Office for Migration rejected H.S.’s asylum application. On 19 August 2008, the applications of the four other complainants (V.S., R.S., E.S. and B.S.) were also rejected. The Federal Office for Migration ruled that the complainants did not meet the requirements for recognition of refugee status under article 3 of the Asylum Act because they could obtain adequate State protection in their own country. 2.12 On 24 November 2010, a cousin of the family who worked as a police officer and was also living in Grabanice was killed. 3 4 4 The complainants submitted three death certificates issued by Kline District Court, the prosecutor of Peje Court and the medical examinations office of the Department of Justice of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK) in Kosovo. The complainant attaches a letter from the prosecutor, dated 27 May 2009, notifying E.S. that the criminal case initiated on 31 January 2008 for the murder of her father has been suspended. GE.15-00578