CAT/C/70/D/888/2018
the reasons for the asylum application. The contradictions noted during her hearing can be
explained by the fact that the complainant is mentally unwell as a result of her administrative
detention, especially since learning that legal proceedings had been instituted against her in
her country of origin. Furthermore, the lower authority based its decision on the fact that the
complainant had misled the Swiss authorities about her identity when she first applied for
asylum in 2001. This fact is not relevant to the examination of her second asylum application.
In the course of the proceedings under the law on foreign nationals, the complainant had
handed over to the Swiss authorities her Cameroonian passport, which proved her identity.
As to the fact that the passport was issued in 2015 and that she might be subjected to
persecution in the event of her return to Cameroon, the complainant notes that she contacted
the Cameroonian authorities at the time of her 2015 trip, during which she met her partner.
Thus, the passport was processed prior to the events during her 2016 trip that gave rise to the
grounds for asylum.
2.8
The complainant is in administrative detention and faces deportation. Because of her
homosexual relationship with M.K., she is facing legal proceedings that have been described
as unfair on the grounds that Cameroon is one of the many African countries that criminalize
homosexuality. Article 347-1 of the Cameroonian Criminal Code stipulates that: “Any person
who has sexual relations with a person of the same sex shall be punished with 6 months’ to
5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 francs.”
2.9
The complainant was caught in the middle of a sexual act at M.K.’s home. M.K. has
admitted the facts and is still in detention awaiting trial. The complainant considers that the
acts in question meet the requirements of article 347-1 of the Cameroonian Criminal Code
and that she therefore risks imprisonment of between 6 months and 5 years and a fine.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant alleges a violation of article 3 of the Convention in respect of her
return to Cameroon, where she risks being detained by the Cameroonian authorities. The
publicity surrounding her case and her homosexuality, which was revealed to everyone,
including her family, friends and other acquaintances, in the Le Courrier newspaper of 29
February 2016, puts her at risk of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
3.2
The complainant states that judicial proceedings conducted in Cameroon against
persons accused of homosexuality take place in appalling conditions and that conditions of
detention are deplorable, since such persons are not only punished by law but are also rejected
by society and their relatives in light of African and, more specifically, Cameroonian culture.2
State party’s observations on admissibility
4.1
In a note verbale of 6 December 2018, the State party challenged the admissibility of
the communication due to non-exhaustion of the available domestic remedies. The State party
submits that it is clear from the Federal Administrative Tribunal’s judgment of 15 March
2018 that the Federal Office for Migration (now the State Secretariat for Migration), in its
decision of 22 February 2002, did not examine the merits of the complainant’s first asylum
application lodged on 2 November 2001. Because of her marriage to an Italian-Swiss national,
the complainant obtained a permanent residence permit in 2007, which the Migration Office
of the canton of Zurich revoked on 21 September 2017 since, among other things, she had
been convicted of serious crimes and offences. This revocation became final because the
appeal of 25 October 2017 was filed past the deadline.
4.2
The complainant was arrested on 2 January 2018 and on 4 January 2018 was placed
in detention prior to deportation. The Coercive Measures Court of the canton of Zurich, the
Administrative Court of the canton of Zurich and the Federal Tribunal examined and
confirmed the legality of her detention. On 5 January 2018, the complainant filed a second
asylum application. On 1 February 2018, the State Secretariat for Migration heard her reasons
2
GE.21-00516
See C. Bordenet, “Le calvaire de deux jeunes homosexuels au Cameroun”, Le Monde, updated on 18
June 2014; and Human Rights Watch, “Criminalisation des identités: atteintes aux droits humains au
Cameroun fondées sur l’orientation sexuelle et l’identité de genre”, 4 November 2010.
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