CAT/C/55/D/566/2013
Annex
Decision of the Committee against Torture under article 22 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (fifty-fifth session)
concerning
Communication No. 566/2013
Submitted by:
Mr. M.A. and Ms. M.N. (represented by counsel,
Johan Lagerfeld)
Alleged victim:
The complainants
State party:
Sweden
Date of complaint:
12 November 2013 (initial submission)
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Meeting on 30 July 2015,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 566/2013, submitted to it by
Mr. M.A. and Ms. M.N., under article 22 of the Convention,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the complainants,
their counsel and the State party,
Adopts the following:
Decision under article 22 (7) of the Convention against Torture
1.1
The complainants are Mr. M.A. and Ms. M.N., both Russian citizens of Chechen
origin born in 1975 and 1976, respectively. They submit their complaint on behalf of
themselves and their four children, born between 2006 and 2013. Their request for asylum
in Sweden was rejected and, at the time of submission of the complaint, they were awaiting
a forcible removal to the Russian Federation. They claim that their deportation would
violate their rights under article 3 of the Convention against Torture. The complainants are
represented by counsel, Johan Lagerfeld.
1.2
On 14 November 2013, acting under rule 114, paragraph 1, of its rules of procedure,
the Committee requested that the State party refrain from expelling the complainants to the
Russian Federation while their complaint is under consideration by the Committee.
The facts as presented by the complainants
2.1
The complainants submit that, in 1997, Ms. M.N. and her former husband lived in
Chechnya, Russian Federation. She submits that her then husband was employed as a
bodyguard for the former President of the self-declared Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Aslan Maskhadov. The Russian military came twice in one week to her house looking for
the documents that they said would prove that she had a secret archive at home.
2.2
The complainants submit that, on an unknown date in 1999, Mr. M.A. was arrested
by the Russian security forces and accused of collaborating with the rebel movement. He
2