CAT/C/68/D/863/2018
of elementary school, and never held a formal job. She was forced to marry a very strict
man who was at least 15 years older than her. The complainant was a housewife and looked
after the couple’s children. The family lived in a small house in Abidjan.
2.2
The complainant’s husband was politically active and supported Alassane Ouattara.
He never spoke to the complainant about his political activities, though he ordered her to
help distribute T-shirts during an election campaign.
2.3
In December 2005, several men suddenly entered the complainant’s home and
attacked her husband, while the complainant and her four young children were in an
adjacent room. The complainant ushered the children outside through an open window,
sending them to the family’s neighbours. The complainant then hid under her bed. She
heard the men beating and interrogating her husband in the next room, and heard him
scream in pain. Then she heard silence and the sound of an engine, and realized that her
husband had been taken away. The remaining men entered the room where the complainant
was hiding. She saw that they were wearing military clothes and were armed. They
searched the bedroom, broke the complainant’s belongings, and found her under the bed.
2.4
The men arrested the complainant and drove her in a truck to a prison in Yopougon.
During the journey, they hit the complainant hard on her back with a bat when she tried to
move around and ask questions.
2.5
The complainant was dragged to a prison cell and was detained there for four years.
She never appeared before a court. The prison cell, which the complainant shared with two
other female inmates, measured only 2 x 3 metres. The complainant did not have a bed or
bedding, and slept on a woven mat on the concrete floor. The cell was never cleaned and
had no sanitary facilities. Across the hall was a prison cell for male inmates. Prisoners
received the same food every day: rice with a salty sauce. They did not have access to
medical care. The complainant was never permitted to go outside, or to receive visitors or
mail.
2.6
In the early days of her detention, the complainant was regularly interrogated about
her husband’s political activities. When she resisted or asked questions (for example, about
her arrest and detention), she was hit hard, sometimes with objects. She was regularly
kicked and beaten without cause, including on her head. She was routinely severely
wounded and bruised. Two guards took turns brutally raping her, both vaginally and anally,
while the other guard held her down. This occurred approximately three times per week
during the first phase of her detention. After some time, the interrogations stopped, but the
complainant continued to be raped, approximately four times per month. She felt helpless
and desperate. She did not speak to her fellow inmates about the abuse. She was very
worried about her husband and their children, and had nightmares and panic attacks. She
had frequent epileptic fits, which she had never had before her detention.
2.7
On 7 August 2009, the complainant escaped from prison with the help of a guard.
The guard gave her a set of military clothes and told her to follow him. He took her outside
the prison and instructed her to run. She ran and found the car where her friend was waiting.
The friend stated that the complainant’s children were safe with her. The friend had finally
discovered where the complainant was being held, and had bribed the prison guard to help
her escape. The friend took the complainant to see a smuggler, who helped her to leave the
country on the same date. While she was at the smuggler’s house, the complainant had
another epileptic fit. The smuggler obtained strong medication so the complainant would
not have another fit during her flight out of the country.
2.8
On 9 August 2009, the complainant arrived in the Netherlands without her children,
and was taken to a private home. The smuggler demanded payment, but the complainant did
not have any money. The smuggler raped her and told her to sleep with other men to make
a living. The complainant escaped the day after her arrival, when the smuggler had left her
alone. The complainant approached a stranger to ask for assistance. He took her to a train
station and helped her find the Asylum Application Centre in Ter Apel.
2.9
On 23 October 2009, the complainant applied for a temporary asylum residence
permit in the Netherlands. At that time, because of the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire, all
refugees from that country were receiving temporary residence permits in the Netherlands.
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