CAT/C/53/D/473/2011
not demonstrate that they would run a personal risk of being subjected to torture upon their
return.
4.7
With regard to the allegations of torture or ill-treatment sustained in the recent past
by Mr. Khademi and the existence of independent evidence thereof, the State party
underlines that State parties to the Convention have an obligation to take those allegations
into consideration in order to assess the risk of the complainant being subjected to torture if
returned to his country of origin. 9 The State party recalls that the Federal Administrative
Tribunal did not find that the medical certificate presented by Mr. Khademi demonstrated a
causal link between the his injuries and the allegations of ill-treatment he suffered while in
detention in Marivan from 1991 to 1993. Furthermore, the Swiss authorities found that a
letter, dated 24 May 2011, which was presented by the complainant as evidence and which
was allegedly provided by a refugee in Sweden who had been a fellow inmate of Mr.
Khademi, was not credible, as its content appeared to have been influenced by the
complainant himself. Events recounted in the letter, in particular a meeting between Mr.
Khademi and a judge, also did not correspond with Mr. Khademi’s own recounts in the
asylum interviews. Lastly, the State party points out that the complainant’s argument that
the Swiss authorities reversed the burden of proof against him is unfounded, since the
jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, cited by the latter, does not apply in
his context, and that the Swiss authorities had, as per their obligation, thoroughly examined
the medical certificate dated 4 September 2010. The Swiss authorities consequently found
that no causal link between the complainant’s injuries and the alleged ill-treatment suffered
in the Islamic Republic of Iran could be established. Hence, the State party argues that the
treatment sustained by the complainants, as claimed before the domestic authorities and the
Committee, would not amount to a violation of the Convention.
4.8
With regard to the political activities pursued by Mr. Khademi, the State party notes
that both before the domestic authorities and the Committee, Mr. Khademi contended that
he was an active member of the KDPI Peshmerga in the 1980s; that KDPI activists are
brutally oppressed in the Islamic Republic of Iran; that he had been arrested for his political
activities; and that he risked detention once more if returned to his country of origin. These
allegations were duly examined by the Swiss asylum authorities, which established that
they lacked credibility. Similarly, Mr. Khademi’s allegations relating to ETELAAT’s
search for him in Iran and Iraq were not found to be credible. Moreover, the State party
notes that Mr. Khademi did not demonstrate in a credible manner how his illegal departure
from the Islamic Republic of Iran would expose him to danger in case of return. It was
further noted that Mr. Khademi has not been politically active in his country of origin since
1980 and did not submit credible evidence confirming his political activities or how the
Iranian authorities would have known about them.
4.9
With regard to the political activities pursued by the complainants in Switzerland,
the State party notes that, Mr. Khademi, Shahin Qadery and Ramyar Khademi, the first,
second and third complainants, stated to the Committee that they were active members of
the KDPI in Switzerland and participated regularly in protests, and that the Iranian
authorities were actively identifying activists against the regime abroad, including “lowprofile” activists or those who participated in protests for opportunistic reasons. To support
the latter claim, the complainants relied on a ruling in a British case. The State party
underlines that the complainants only declared their political activities in Switzerland
following the negative decision taken by the Swiss asylum authorities on 17 November
2010. Furthermore, the State party notes that, on 30 June 2011, in the light of its
jurisprudence and new information from the complainants, the Federal Administrative
9
Committee against Torture, general comment No. 1 (1997), para. 8 (b).
7