2.5 From then on, the author and his family had no fixed abode,
living in three different places: in Kizilkale, where the author's
parents have a farm; in Mersin, where he owns another apartment;
and in Elazig, in a dwelling owned by a friend which they rented a
few months after fleeing.
2.6 One night in April 1996, the police broke into the rented
apartment in Elazig where the author and his family were sleeping.
The author was beaten and taken to a place where he was physically
and psychologically tortured for two and a half days. He then agreed
to work for the police, who said that he could begin working in two
weeks' time. On being released, he returned to his home, collected his
family and hid them at a friend's home until they left for Istanbul.
While his family members were with this friend, the author's eldest
son, aged 17, was arrested by the police while on his way to see his
grandfather and was held in custody. The police informed him that he
would not be released unless his father came to fetch him in person.
On learning of this, the author and his family left for Istanbul, where
they stayed at the home of one of his brothers.
2.7 On 4 June 1996, the author, his wife and another son caught a
plane and, via Milan, arrived illegally in Switzerland on 5 June 1996.
All of them were in possession of their passports.
2.8 On the day of their arrival in Switzerland, the author and his
family applied for asylum. Their application was rejected by the
Federal Office for Refugees on 27 May 1998. The author argues in
particular that, in support of its decision refusing him refugee status,
the Federal Office for Refugees maintained that he had given
contradictory information concerning his place of residence between
1994 and 1996. The author lodged an appeal against this decision,
which was rejected on 3 August 1999 on the grounds that his pleas
were unconvincing. In this appeal, he requested a second medical
examination, which was refused.
2.9 The author states that he arrived in Switzerland traumatized by
the torture he had undergone. He began a course of medical treatment
on 9 July 1996 and he was also advised to obtain psychological
treatment. On 8 April 1997, the doctors sent the Federal Office for
Refugees a report stating that the author should spend three weeks in
hospital because of pains in his spinal column. On 18 April 1997, a
psychiatric report requested by the Federal Office for Refugees found
that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The merits of the complaint