CAT/C/39/D/299/2006
Page 3
requested the State party not to deport the complainant to the Democratic Republic of
the Congo while his complaint was being considered. The State party acceded to such
request.
1.3 On 20 February 2006, the State party provided its comments on the merits of the
case and asked the Committee to lift its request for interim measures. On 22 May 2007,
the Committee decided to maintain its request for interim measures.
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1 From 1995 to 1997, the complainant worked as a journalist for the newspaper
Elima in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his main duty being to compile and
publish information on human rights violations under the Mobutu regime. He notes that,
during that period, he published articles on nearly 300 cases of human rights violations
and “had problems” with the Mobutu regime as a result. After president Kabila took
power in 1997, the complainant was detained on several occasions and, in late 1997, the
publication of Elima was prohibited.
2.2 In January 1997, the complainant joined the Union for Democracy and Social
Progress (UDPS) and was responsible for the recruitment of young militants. In January
1998, he was arrested and his press card was confiscated, which put an end of his career
as a journalist. From 2000 to 2002, he worked for a non-governmental organization.
2.3 In June 2002 and May 2003, UDPS organized demonstrations against the Kabila
regime. The complainant, who was among the organizers, was arrested on both
occasions. On the first occasion, he was detained without charges at the military camp
of Tshatshi and later transferred to the Gombé prison, where he was allegedly whipped
and released two weeks later. On the second occasion, he was detained in Tshashti and
then transferred to the Makala prison, a provisional arrest warrant having been issued
against him on 22 May 2003.
2.4 On 1 May 2004, the complainant allegedly escaped from prison by bribing two
prison guards. He left the country for Brazzaville, in the Republic of the Congo, where
he stayed at a UDPS local representative’s. Four days later, he travelled under a false
identity to Lagos, Nigeria, where he stayed until 26 June 2004. From Lagos he flew to
Italy holding a Nigerian citizen’s passport and finally arrived in Switzerland, where he
sought asylum on 29 June 2004. In Switzerland, he was asked to provide documents
certifying his identity within 48 hours, which he was unable to do, as he was not able to
contact his family in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2.5 On 3 May 2004, a search warrant was issued by security forces in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo against the complainant, wanted for offenses against the public
safety and against the Chief of state.
2.6 On 9 August 2004, the Swiss Federal Office for Refugees (ODR) refused to
consider the merits of the complainant’s asylum request and ordered his deportation.
This decision was adopted on the basis of the complainant’s failure to provide
identification documents within 48 hours since the filing of his complaint with allegedly
no valid justification for this delay. ODR considered that the complainant’s statement