CEDAW/C/75/D/108/2016
Background
1.1 The author of the communication is F.H.A., a Somalian national born in 1988.
Her asylum application in Denmark was rejected, and she risks deportation to
Somalia. She claims that her deportation would constitute a breach by Denmark of
her rights under articles 1 and 2 (d), read in conjunction with article 2 (e) and (f), of
the Convention. The author is represented by counsel, the Advokatkompagniet law
firm. The Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto entered into force for
Denmark on 21 May 1983 and 22 December 2000, respectively.
1.2 On 14 November 2016, when the communication was registered, the
Committee, acting through its Working Group on Communications under the Optional
Protocol, pursuant to article 5 (1) of the Optional Protocol and rule 63 of t he
Committee’s rules of procedure, requested the State party not to deport the author
pending the consideration of her case. On 11 May 2017, the State party informed the
Committee that, on 16 November 2016, the Refugee Appeals Board of Denmark had
suspended the time limit for the author’s departure from Denmark.
Facts as submitted by the author
2.1 The author is a Somali national born in 1988, belonging to the Abgal clan from
Cali Xaaji, Shabelle Dhexe. Her parents died when she was young, and she was r aised
by an uncle. The spouse of her uncle maltreated her, including by burning her with a
metal pipe.
2.2 In June 2010, the author began a relationship with her future spouse, against her
uncle’s will. Her future husband belonged to the Bon clan and was a hunter. He lived
with his mother in Cali Xaaji.
2.3 In December 2010, one of the author’s cousins accidentally struck a villager,
who died as a result. The family of the deceased villager sought compensation, and
the cousin was arrested.
2.4 At the end of December 2010, the author’s future husband sought the permission
of the author’s uncle to marry her, to no avail.
2.5 On 5 January 2011, the author’s uncle travelled in order to secure funds for the
compensation of the accidental death. The author and her future husband found a
sheikh, who married them. The author stayed with her husband until her uncle
returned on 8 February 2011.
2.6 On 8 February 2011, the uncle attacked the author’s husband and forced the
author to return to his home. There, he chained the author by her foot and told her
that he that he would “give” her to the father of the deceased villager as compensation
for the accidental death caused by her cousin. The author attempted in vain to commit
suicide by imbibing petrol that she had found in the house.
2.7 On 4 March 2011, the author was moved to the house of the deceased villager’s
father and was forced to marry him. On 28 March 2011, she managed to escape and
went to her husband’s home. They escaped to Eel Baraf village, where her husban d
had a friend. They stayed in that village for three years without being discovered.
2.8 On 13 June 2014, however, the author and her husband met a man from Cali
Xaaji in the market. The man told the author that her uncle believed that she was dead
but that her husband from her forced marriage was still looking for her. According to
the author, her husband risked imprisonment because her uncle had not compensated
the family of the deceased villager. The author asked the man not to mention that he
had seen her.
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