CAT/C/21/D/88/1997
page 3
for the Kuwaiti authorities on the grounds that he did not leave Kuwait when
the Iraqi army withdrew. He states that he managed to leave the country with
his family through bribes and arrived in Jordan, his wife’s country of
nationality.
2.2
In Jordan he was refused a residence permit in November 1991 and was
only given a six-month temporary visa. When that visa expired he had to pay
one dinar for each day he remained in the country. He states that he tried
unsuccessfully to obtain permanent residence. In 1993 he went back to Iraq to
visit his dying mother and was first kept in detention for 14 days and then
under house arrest, having to report to the government representative every
day. According to the author, this representative advised him to leave Iraq
since his safety in the country was at risk. He went back to Jordan where he
remained, without a residence permit, until June 1994. He arrived in Sweden
via Turkey on 13 June 1994. His son lives in Sweden where he obtained a
permanent residence permit after having deserted from Iraqi military service
during the Gulf war. The author alleges that, according to Iraqi law, he is
considered responsible for his son’s defection, and for that reason as well
his situation in Iraq would be difficult. The author's wife and daughters are
apparently still living in Jordan.
2.3
On 26 September 1994 the Swedish Immigration Board decided to reject the
author's application for a residence permit and ordered his expulsion to
Jordan. The Board found that the author’s connections with Jordan constituted
substantial grounds to assume that he would be received in that country and
that there was no danger for him to be sent from Jordan to Iraq. The Aliens
Appeals Board, sharing the opinion of the Swedish Immigration Board, dismissed
the author's appeal on 11 September 1996. In 1997 the author lodged three new
applications which were all rejected by the Aliens Appeals Board.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that his return to Iraq would constitute a violation
of article 3 of the Convention against Torture by Sweden, since there are
risks that he would be arrested and subjected to torture in that country.
He also claims that, not having a residence permit in Jordan, it is unsafe for
him to return to that country from which he fears to be sent back to Iraq
since the Jordan police work closely with the Iraqi authorities.
3.2
In support of his claim the author provides the Committee with copies of
two letters dated 20 December 1994 and 17 October 1996 in which the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed the Swedish
Aliens Appeals Board that foreigners married to Jordanian women did not enjoy
any preferential treatment when applying for residence permits in Jordan and
that marriage to a Jordanian citizen was not grounds for being granted
residency in Jordan; special authorization had to be obtained from the
Ministry of Interior. He also provided copy of a letter dated 27 March 1997
in which UNHCR informed the Advice Bureau for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in
Stockholm about cases of Iraqis denied entry or readmission into Jordan upon
being returned from Sweden and Denmark.