CAT/C/48/D/413/2010
2.16 On 16 November 2009, the Migration Court rejected the complainant’s appeal. It
held that the information that the complainant had been sentenced to imprisonment and
searched for by the police were new circumstances according to the Aliens Act and,
therefore, had not been examined before. However, the complainant’s statement that she
had received this information from an acquaintance in Burundi could not, in the absence of
any further corroboration, be considered sufficiently substantiated to conclude that the new
circumstances constituted lasting impediments to the enforcement of her expulsion order
under chapter 12, section 19, of the Aliens Act. The documents, which were presented in
original to the Migration Court, were of questionable quality and consequently had a low
value as evidence. Regardless of this, the Migration Court concluded that the complainant
was aware of the documents that were going to be sent to her already by the end of April or
early May 2009, i.e. before the Migration Court’s judgement of 19 May 2009 in relation to
her application for a residence permit. Before that time, she had been aware of the
information that she had been sentenced and searched for by the police in Burundi.
Consequently, she had had a possibility to present this information during the proceedings
on her initial asylum application but decided not to do it. The reason given by the
complainant, i.e. that she would have been asked to submit proof, was not considered by the
Migration Court as a valid excuse under chapter 12, section 19, of the Aliens Act for not
presenting the new circumstances at an earlier stage.
2.17 On 9 December 2009, the Migration Court of Appeal refused leave to appeal against
the Migration Court’s judgement. This decision is not subject to appeal.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that there exists a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or
mass violations of human rights in Burundi. She refers to the sixth report of the SecretaryGeneral on the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (S/2009/611), and to a 2009
report by Amnesty International USA regarding the poor human rights record in Burundi,
including the use of torture against detainees in prison, unlawful killings by the security
forces, widespread rape and sexual violence, and impunity. In the light of the above, the
complainant submits that due to her association with the deceased brother’s activities and
the expected imprisonment for aiding murder and theft, her expulsion from Sweden to
Burundi would expose her to harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, torture and other
forms of abuse, such as rape and sexual violence. She claims, therefore, that her forcible
return to Burundi would constitute a breach by Sweden of her rights under article 3 of the
Convention.
3.2
The complainant submits that she is at personal risk of being tortured upon her
return to her country of origin. She argues that a close family member has already been
killed and she fears that in case of her expulsion to Burundi she may face the same fate, and
there is an obvious risk that she will be subjected to ill-treatment, torture and rape while
imprisoned. In this connection, the complainant states that she is innocent and has not
committed the acts for which she was convicted. The background for her conviction is
ethnic contradictions in Burundi and her brother’s involvement with the Sans Échec.
State party’s observations on the admissibility and the merits
4.1
By note verbale of 2 September 2010, the State party submitted its observations on
the admissibility and the merits. As to the admissibility, it states that it is not aware of the
same matter having been or being subject to another procedure of international
investigation or settlement. With reference to article 22, paragraph 5 (b), of the Convention,
the State party acknowledges that all available domestic remedies have been exhausted in
the present communication.
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