CCPR/C/128/D/3012/2017
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author resided in Masagaway, Somalia. Her husband worked as a driver for a
foreign humanitarian organization. In 2012, Al-Shabaab started threatening the author’s
husband in relation to his work. At first, he did not take the threats seriously. In March
2013, the author’s brother-in-law borrowed her husband’s car and was stopped and killed
by Al-Shabaab. The author and her husband then decided to leave the area. The author was
six months pregnant at the time. On their way, the author realized that she had forgotten
some pregnancy medication at home. She returned home, where some members of AlShabaab were waiting. They took her to an unknown place where she was held for a week.
They threatened to kill her and told her that she would be forced to marry a member of AlShabaab. One day, the guards received a call and left the place where the author was held.
When the author screamed for help, some herders let her out and directed her to the nearest
road. She paid a truck driver 600 shillings to take her to her uncle’s house in Mogadishu.
Once there, she was taken to a hospital where she learned that she had suffered a
miscarriage. Her uncle’s son was a member of Al-Shabaab, and he pressured his father to
reveal the author’s and her husband’s whereabouts. Her uncle therefore arranged for her
departure from Somalia, and she left the country in March 2013. She arrived in Turkey,
where she worked until September 2014 in order to save money to pay a smuggler for her
onward travel. Subsequently, she travelled from Turkey to Greece and then on to Denmark.
In November 2014, she arrived in Sweden and applied for asylum.
2.2
On 29 November 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency rejected the author’s asylum
application, finding that although she could not return to Masagaway because of the
presence of Al-Shaabab, she could still reside in Mogadishu. Her subsequent appeals before
the Migration Court and the Migration Court of Appeal were all rejected, and she thus
claims to have exhausted all available domestic remedies.
2.3
The author submits that she has a throat infection and needs an operation. She also
claims that she cannot have the operation or receive medical assistance because she is not
legally residing in the State party.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that if returned to Somalia, she would face a serious risk of harm
from Al-Shabaab, in violation of her rights under article 7 of the Covenant, as she was
previously kidnapped by Al-Shabaab because of her husband’s work.
3.2
The author claims that she does not have a male network in Mogadishu and does not
know if her uncle is still alive. She contends that, although the Swedish authorities found
Mogadishu to be a safe place for her, her uncle would not have advised her to leave
Somalia if Mogadishu had been safe.
State party’s observations on admissibility and the merits
4.1
On 2 March 2018, the State party submitted its observations on admissibility and the
merits of the author’s communication.
4.2
The State party notes that the author applied for asylum in Sweden on 19 November
2014. The Swedish Migration Agency rejected her application on 29 November 2016. She
appealed to the Migration Court, which rejected her appeal on 26 April 2017. On 14 June
2017, the Migration Court of Appeal refused her leave to appeal and the decision to expel
the author became final and non-appealable.
4.3
The State party also notes that, in order to determine the identity and place of
habitual residence of the author, a language analysis was conducted on 12 September 2016.
The result of the language analysis, which was communicated to the author on 19
September 2016, corroborated her statements about her origin and place of habitual
residence, namely that she was born in Mogadishu and resided in Masagaway in the
province of Shabelle Dhexe in central Somalia. The Migration Agency consequently
assessed the author’s case against the conditions prevailing in Masagaway and Mogadishu.
4.4
On 27 June 2017, after the decision to expel her became final, the author claimed
before the Migration Agency that she was ill and had a tumour in her throat. However, she
did not present any medical certificate in support of this claim. She has since submitted to
the Committee medical statements indicating that she has a benign struma on the right side
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