CAT/C/70/D/888/2018
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
15 January 2021
English
Original: French
Committee against Torture
Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the
Convention, concerning communication No. 888/2018*, **
Communication submitted by:
H.T. (represented by counsel, Alfred Ngoyi wa
Mwanza of the BUCOFRAS association)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Switzerland
Date of complaint:
4 September 2018 (initial submission)
Document references:
Decision taken pursuant to rules 114 and 115 of
the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted
to the State party on 23 October 2018 (not issued
in document form)
Date of decision:
30 December 2020
Subject matter:
Expulsion from Switzerland to Cameroon
Procedural issue:
Failure to exhaust domestic remedies
Substantive issue:
Non-refoulement
Articles of the Convention:
3 and 22
1.1
The complainant is H.T., a citizen of Cameroon, born in 1967. She applied for asylum
in Switzerland but her application was denied. She claims that returning her to Cameroon
would constitute a violation by the State party of her rights under article 3 of the Convention,
since she would be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. The State party made the declaration under article 22 (1) of the Convention on
2 December 1986. The complainant is represented by counsel, Alfred Ngoyi wa Mwanza of
the BUCOFRAS association.
1.2
The complainant requested that the Committee grant interim measures during its
consideration of her complaint. On 23 October 2018, the Committee, acting through its
Rapporteur for new complaints and interim measures, decided not to grant this request.
1.3
On 3 February 2020, at the request of the State party, the Committee, acting through
its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, decided to examine the admissibility
of the complaint separately from the merits.
* Adopted by the Committee during the intersessional period, on 30 December 2020.
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Essadia Belmir, Claude Heller, Erdoğan İşcan, Liu Huawen, Jens Modvig, Ilvija Pūce, Diego
Rodríguez-Pinzón, Sébastien Touzé and Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov.
GE.21-00516 (E)
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