CAT/C/62/D/683/2015
worked as a vendor and in agriculture. In 2004, Janjaweed and other Arab militias attacked
Tawilah, killing some of its inhabitants and their livestock. The complainant managed to
flee, along with his brother, who had been wounded in the attack. They walked for about 90
minutes until State officers, passing by in an official car, arrested them and took them to
prison.3
2.2
The complainant claims that, while in custody, he was interrogated several times and
accused of supplying weapons to the Fur ethnic group, to which he belongs. He suffered a
broken hand and a broken leg while in detention.4 The complainant was released after six
months of detention. Sometime afterwards, he left the Sudan and travelled through Libya
and Italy, arriving in Switzerland on 11 July 2005. On 12 July 2005, the complainant
submitted his first asylum application.
2.3
On 25 September 2006, the complainant’s asylum application was rejected by the
former Federal Office for Migration (now the State Secretariat for Migration), which
considered that his assertions were implausible. On 24 October 2006, the complainant
contested the Federal Office for Migration’s decision; his appeal was rejected by the
Federal Administrative Court on 16 December 2009.
2.4
On 31 January 2014, the complainant submitted a second asylum application,
alleging that he had built up a political profile while in Switzerland as he had become both
a member and the secretary for social and media affairs of the Swiss branch of the Justice
and Equality Movement, a Sudanese opposition group. On 5 February 2015, the State
Secretariat for Migration rejected the complainant’s second asylum application. It
considered that his activities as the secretary for social and media affairs of the Justice and
Equality Movement were not sufficient to attract the interest of the Sudanese authorities.
According to the State Secretariat for Migration, the complainant does not have a
distinguishable political profile, as he is merely one of many supporters of the Justice and
Equality Movement. Even if the Sudanese authorities were to note his presence, they would
not be interested in him. Instead, his activities gave the impression that his aim was to
remain in Switzerland, rather than to oppose the Government of the Sudan. On 13 February
2014, the complainant was arrested by the cantonal police and brought to the Federal Office
for Migration in order to acquire official documents. In this context, he claims that his
identity was revealed to the Sudanese embassy.
2.5
The complainant appealed against the State Secretariat for Migration’s decision
before the Federal Administrative Court. The Court upheld the State Secretariat for
Migration’s decision, rejecting the complainant’s appeal on 26 March 2015. The Court
considered that the Sudanese authorities would be interested in Sudanese nationals whose
political activities distinguished them from the rather anonymous circle of mere participants
in political events. In the Court’s view, the complainant failed to demonstrate that he had a
distinguishable profile of an exiled activist who would be perceived by the Sudanese
authorities as a danger, as he only joined the Swiss branch of the Justice and Equality
Movement in July 2012 (a fact confirmed in January 2013).5 The Court considered that the
Justice and Equality Movement provided two letters attesting to his membership as a matter
of courtesy, given that they were issued only two months after the complainant became a
member. The Court also considered that the photographs provided by the complainant
portraying him in the company of high-profile members of the Justice and Equality
Movement at an international conference appeared to have been taken before the
conference started, as the cadre activists and audience members are not in any of the
photographs with the complainant. Therefore, he was not exposed to the attention of the
Sudanese authorities. The Court further considered that the complainant was not politically
active while in the Sudan and that he had become a member of the Swiss branch of the
Justice and Equality Movement with a view to obtaining residence in Switzerland.
3
4
5
2
The communication does not include any details regarding the arresting officers.
The communication does not indicate how these injuries were sustained, but it suggests that they
resulted from the treatment the complainant suffered in prison.
The complainant has allegedly held the position of secretary for social and media affairs of the Swiss
branch of the Justice and Equality Movement since January 2013.