CAT/C/49/D/389/2009
Annex
Decision of the Committee against Torture under article 22 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (forty-ninth session)
concerning
Communication No. 389/2009
Submitted by:
R.A. (represented by the Service d’Aide
Juridique aux Exilé-e-s (SAJE))
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Switzerland
Date of complaint:
29 June 2009 (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 20 November 2012,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 389/2009, submitted to the
Committee against Torture on behalf of R.A. under article 22 of the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the complainant,
his counsel and the State party,
Adopts the following:
Decision under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against
Torture
1.
The complainant, R.A., a national of Turkey born in 1976 and currently residing in
Switzerland, maintains that his return to Turkey would constitute a violation of article 3 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. The complainant is represented by the Service d’Aide Juridique aux Exilé-e-s
(SAJE).
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant is a Kurdish Alevi. He is originally from the Kurdish village of
Tilkiler/Pazarcik, in eastern Turkey, which was annexed by the Turkish army in February
1994. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party was active in the region and nearly all Kurdish
inhabitants were suspected by the authorities of being in collusion with that party. The
complainant and his family were harassed by the authorities. The complainant was also
encouraged by the authorities to become a “village guardian”, which involves keeping an
eye on the inhabitants of the village and reporting them to the authorities if they engage in
suspicious political activities. The complainant refused. Following the Turkish army’s
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