CAT/C/62/D/688/2015
2.4
Fearing another arrest, on 21 November 2011 the complainant fled to the Sudan with
a falsified passport. On 30 January 2012, he arrived in Switzerland, having travelled
through Spain and France. On 31 January, the complainant applied for asylum in
Switzerland.
2.5
In February 2013, the complainant officially joined Ginbot 7 in Switzerland. Since
that time, the complainant has organized and participated in rallies and regularly broadcast
dissident messages on Radio Ginbot 7 and other radio stations. He is also part of the media
team responsible for public relations of the Ethiopian Human Rights and Democracy Task
Force in Switzerland. Furthermore, he has participated in public discussions with highprofile opposition figures and journalists, presenting his poems at numerous dissident
gatherings. In June, he was filmed by a member of the staff of the Ethiopian embassy while
participating in an opposition demonstration at an event organized by the Ethiopian
Government. He also runs an online blog on which he criticizes the Ethiopian Government
and informs others about the human rights situation in the country.
2.6
Following oral hearings on 15 February 2012 and 11 July 2014, the Federal Office
of Migration (now the State Secretariat for Migration) of the State party rejected his asylum
application on 26 September 2014, having determined that there were discrepancies in the
complainant’s statements between the screening interview and the substantive asylum
interview. On 30 October, the complainant filed an appeal against that decision with the
Federal Administrative Court. In its ruling of 20 January 2015, the Court rejected the
appeal and confirmed the decision of the Federal Office of Migration. The complainant was
given permission to remain in the country until 23 February.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that the State party would violate article 3 of the
Convention should he be removed to Ethiopia, where he would face a real risk of being
subjected to State persecution and inhumane treatment due both to his previous
involvement in and resignation from the secret service, and to his membership of Ginbot 7
and participation in dissident activities in Switzerland.
3.2
He states that in 2011, the Ethiopian parliament declared Ginbot 7 to be a terrorist
organization, and members of Ginbot 7 are targeted by the Government and are likely to be
arbitrarily arrested and ill-treated in prison. The complainant argues that he has become a
visible figure in dissident circles in Switzerland, which further increases the risk of being
arrested, detained and tortured upon return to Ethiopia.
3.3
The complainant also states that the medical report regarding his hip injury is
consistent with his account of the torture he suffered in Ethiopia, and that he was diagnosed
with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has been treated at a psychiatric hospital
since 2015.
State party’s observations on the merits
4.1
On 13 January 2016, the State party submitted observations on the merits of the
communication. The State party recognizes that the human rights situation in Ethiopia is
worrying in many respects. However, this situation cannot, of itself, constitute a sufficient
reason to conclude that the complainant would be at risk of being subjected to torture on his
return to his country of origin. 4 The State party considers that the complainant has not
provided evidence to suggest that he would run a foreseeable, real and personal risk of
being subjected to torture if he were returned to Ethiopia.
4.2
The State party considers that an experience of torture in the past is one of the
factors to consider in assessing the risk of torture should the complainant be returned to his
country. The complainant, however, did not submit any medical certificate concerning his
past torture during the asylum proceeding, and the Federal Administrative Court had it on
record that he appeared to be healthy at the time of its decision. Only after the asylum
proceeding ended on 20 January 2015 did the complainant obtain and submit medical
4
See N.P. v. Australia (CAT/C/22/D/106/1998), para. 6.5.
3