CAT/C/40/D/311/2007
Page 2
ANNEX
DECISION OF THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE
CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR
DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
Fortieth session
Concerning
Communication No. 311/2007
Submitted by:
M. X. (not represented by counsel)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Switzerland
Date of the complaint:
19 January 2007 (initial submission)
The Committee against Torture, established under Article 17 of the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Meeting on 7 May 2008,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 311/2007, submitted to the
Committee against Torture by M. X. under article 22 of the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the author of the
communication and the State party,
Adopts the following decision under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against
Torture.
1.1 The complainant is M. X., a Belarus national born in 1952. He applied for political
asylum in Switzerland in 2002; his application was rejected in 2003. He claims that his forced
removal to Belarus (or to Ukraine) would constitute a violation, by Switzerland, of his rights
under article 3 of the Convention against torture. He is unrepresented.
1.2 When submitting his initial communication, the complainant requested the Committee
to ask the State party not to proceed with his removal until his case was being considered. On
30 January 2007, the Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Interim Measures,
acting on behalf of the Committee, decided not to accede to the complainant’s request for
interim measures of protection.
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1 The complainant affirms that he was a political activist in Belarus since 1998 and as
such he participated in several political demonstrations. He worked for a company that