CAT/C/22/D/62/1996
page 2
Annex
DECISION OF THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE UNDER ARTICLE 22
OF THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN
OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
TWENTY-SECOND SESSION
concerning
Communication No. 62/1996
Submitted by:
E. H. (name withheld)
[represented by counsel]
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Hungary
Date of communication:
29 October 1996
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment,
Meeting on 10 May 1999,
Adopts the following:
Decision on admissibility
1.
The author of the communication is E. H., born on 20 October 1976, a
Turkish citizen belonging to the Kurdish minority, currently residing in
Hungary where he has applied for asylum. He alleges that his forced return to
Turkey would constitute a violation by Hungary of article 3 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. The author is represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee,
a non-governmental organization based in Budapest.
Facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author states that on 12 March 1992 he participated in a
demonstration organized on the occasion of a Kurdish celebration. The event
degenerated into violence and Turkish security forces arrested several
demonstrators, including the author, who were held in detention for seven
months awaiting trial. The author alleges that he was tortured twice during
that period. Since no witnesses heard during the court proceedings could
identify him the author was released following the trial. He was nevertheless
placed under police surveillance.
2.2
In 1993 the author joined the armed wing of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party
(PKK) and underwent six months of combat training. As the head of a unit
comprising 70 combatants he was involved in military activities in