CAT/C/64/D/742/2016
June 2013, the so-called Dublin III Regulation, which applied in Switzerland by virtue of
an association agreement. According to the letter, under the terms of the Dublin III
Regulation, the general rule is that the first member State that an asylum applicant comes
into contact with becomes the member State responsible for the examination of the claim
for international protection. Since the complainant had passed through Italy, where his
fingerprints were registered, it was responsible for adjudicating his claim.
2.8
Since 2 November 2015, the complainant has been receiving treatment at the
specialized trauma clinic for victims of torture and war at Geneva University Hospitals.
According to a medical report by the clinic co-signed by two doctors (Dr. Emmanuel
Escard, psychiatrist, and Dr. Wania Roggiani, internist), 2 the complainant presents a
combination of physical symptoms and psychological disorders that constitute posttraumatic stress disorder, a clinical picture typically found in victims of violence. He has
begun to construct a therapeutic relationship with his physicians, which is the necessary
precondition for the healing process. According to his treating physicians, it is critically
important for the complainant to continue to benefit from the specialized psychiatric care of
the clinic. They warn of the dire consequences of forcibly interrupting the treatment,
including chronical post-traumatic stress disorder and an evolution towards chronic
associated post-traumatic disorders, such as severe depression, anxiety, and personality or
identity disorders, with serious repercussions on his psychosocial health. Finally, a forced
removal would separate the complainant from his brother who also lives in Geneva.
According to the report, the complainant’s brother provides him with stability and moral
support and his proximity is essential to the success of the treatment he follows. The
doctors fear that separation from his brother could negatively affect the psychological
health of the complainant, exposing him to a very dangerous decline.
2.9
On 3 November 2015, the complainant appealed the State Secretariat’s decision of
23 October 2015 to the Federal Administrative Tribunal without legal counselling. In his
appeal, he claimed that the Italian reception system for asylum seekers had collapsed and
could not provide even the most basic vital needs of food and shelter. The complainant
requested an extension to provide medical evidence from the specialized trauma clinic, as
he had just started his treatment. He also requested that a pro bono lawyer be appointed to
represent him in his appeal. On 10 November 2015, the Federal Administrative Tribunal
considered the appeal manifestly ill-founded and rejected it, charging the court costs to the
complainant.
2.10 On 12 April 2016, the complainant submitted his complaint to the Committee, it was
registered on 21 April 2016.
2.11 On 29 September 2016, the State party submitted a standard form for the exchange
of health data prior to a Dublin transfer to the Italian authorities, attaching the
complainant’s medical certificate translated into English. On 12 October 2016, the
complainant was deported to Italy. He arrived in Malpensa Airport at around noon and was
taken by police officers to an office where his fingerprints were taken. He was given some
documents, without any explanation of their content. Even though the complainant does not
read English or Italian and only understands a little spoken English, no interpretation was
offered. After waiting for two hours, he was given his personal belongings and was asked,
in English, if he knew anybody in Milan, to which he answered that he did not. He was then
asked to wait in the airport for a seat to become vacant in a room next to the luggage so that
he could spend the night there. He had not received anything to eat. He asked three times
what he was supposed to do but nobody answered. Between 5 p.m. and 7.30 p.m., he was
asked to wait outside of the airport. During that time, police officers passed by and asked
for his identity documents, and he received a call from an acquaintance living in Milan who
asked him to go to the train station where he could find a temporary shelter with Caritas. At
9.30 p.m., he found the shelter and queued for four hours, but he did not get a place to sleep
or eat there. He had no choice but to sleep outside. The next day, he started queuing at 1
p.m. and he got a place in the shelter. The complainant describes the situation as chaotic,
with hundreds of asylum seekers sleeping in the streets with no assistance from the
authorities. He realized that, in Italy, he had no chance of having a shelter assigned to him
2
The complainant attaches a medical report dated 15 March 2016.
3