CCPR/C/125/D/2494/2014
1.1
The author of the communication is S.F., a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran
born on 7 January 1960. At the time of submission, he was subject to deportation to the
Islamic Republic of Iran following rejection of his application for refugee status by the
Danish authorities. He claimed that by forcibly deporting him to the Islamic Republic of
Iran, Denmark would violate his rights under articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant. He further
claimed that his rights under articles 2, 13, 14 and 26 of the Covenant had been violated in
connection with the hearing of his asylum case by the Danish authorities. The Optional
Protocol entered into force for the State party on 23 March 1976. The author is represented
by counsel.
1.2
On 30 July 2014, pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures decided not to issue a
request for interim measures.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author fled the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1998 1 and entered Denmark on 23
April 1998 without valid travel documents. He applied for asylum the following day. On 6
November 1998, the Danish Immigration Service dismissed his application.
2.2
On 26 January 1999, the Refugee Appeals Board rejected the author’s appeal,
arguing that his statements seemed fabricated and lacked any logic and coherence on
certain points. The Board considered that the author was not under risk of persecution if
returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The author however did not comply with the order
to leave the country and stayed in Denmark. According to the facts presented by the author
in the context of national proceedings and contained in the decision of 26 January 1999 of
the Refugee Appeals Board, the author worked driving a bus between the Islamic Republic
of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic, and in that capacity he was also delivering parcels
and mail to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. Prior to his last delivery to the Embassy, he
was told not to share any information as to the place of delivery for a parcel, because it
contained weapons and flyers. On 8 March 1998, he was arrested by the Syrian police in
connection with the parcels and was put in detention for 25 days, during which he was
subjected to torture, beaten and kicked in the stomach and genitals. He had permanent
injuries from the blows that he received and pain in his legs and back. Two days after his
arrest, the author was contacted by a representative of the Iranian Embassy, who asked him
to declare that the parcels belonged to him, otherwise “it would cost him dearly if he
returned to Iran”. He was then admitted to a hospital in the Syrian Arab Republic for six
days. Following these events, the author was afraid to return to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He therefore escaped from the hospital and travelled with an agent to Denmark, passing
through Istanbul and Hamburg.
2.3
Between 2000 and 2005, the author requested the reopening of his asylum case five
times, but the Refugee Appeals Board rejected all his requests. 2 In the summer of 2006, he
participated in a hunger strike with other asylum seekers whose requests had also been
denied. This attracted a lot of media attention. The author was shown on a national news
broadcast on Danish television as he was the Iranian asylum seeker who had been in
Denmark for the longest time and had been refused asylum. Based on the media coverage
of his case, the author again requested that his asylum case be reopened on 12 February
2007, claiming that his presence in Denmark had certainly been registered by
representatives of the Iranian Embassy in Denmark. On 28 March 2007, the Refugee
Appeals Board agreed to reopen the case.
1
2
2
The author does not provide any information on the reasons for fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In support of his request, the author produced an alleged summons, dated 31 December 1998 and
issued by the Iranian Ministry of Justice. According to that summons, the author was supposed to
appear on 5 January 1999 before the Ministry, in order to declare his participation in illegal weapons
transportation. The summons was served on the author’s wife on 2 January 1999. The Refugee
Appeals Board consulted with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which requested verification of the
authenticity of that document, and then replied on 22 March 2000 by questioning the authenticity on
several grounds. The Board subsequently dismissed the author’s requests to reopen proceedings on 3
July 2000, 6 December 2000, 5 January 2001, 8 September 2004 and 30 November 2005.