CAT/C/67/D/828/2017
also took part in conferences, including one in February 2017 during which he spoke out in
defence of General Benoît Faustin Munene, who was an opponent of the regime of the then
President, Joseph Kabila, and who had been accused of being involved in a coup d’état and
charged with high treason. The complainant’s father, a close friend of General Munene and
a member of his movement, Armée de résistance populaire, was arrested in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo on 10 May 2017.
2.2
On 24 April 2017, the complainant left the Democratic Republic of the Congo by air
for Istanbul, Turkey, using his passport and a forged Portuguese visa. The following day, he
arrived in Switzerland, where he was denied entry because his visa was forged. He then
filed an application for asylum. The complainant was placed under house arrest in the
international transit zone of Geneva Airport.
2.3
On 12 May 2017, after hearing the case, the State Secretariat for Migration rejected
his application.1 On 23 May 2017, the Federal Administrative Court upheld the decision of
the State Secretariat and ordered the complainant’s expulsion to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. The State Secretariat and the Court considered that his statements were not
credible and that the documents produced had no probative value. The same was true of a
letter from General Munene and an internal article written by a member of his political
movement – Armée de résistance populaire – which had allegedly been drafted as a favour
for the sake of the cause.
2.4
Finally, the complainant submitted a letter dated 25 May 2017 signed by General
Munene. Addressed to the Swiss authorities and the European Court of Human Rights, it
confirms that the complainant was a victim of an “attempted arbitrary arrest” by the
authorities of his country of origin for having defended the General’s cause at a conference
on human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The letter also confirms that the
complainant’s father was arrested on 10 May 2017, accused of being one of the main agents
recruiting young people in Bandundu province with the aim of overthrowing the regime in
power. Furthermore, the letter confirms that the complainant, who was being sought by the
Police Directorate of General Intelligence and Special Services, had fled the country and
concludes that, if he were to be returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he
would be at risk of persecution and inhuman treatment by the regime.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that his expulsion to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
would violate article 3 of the Convention, as he might be subjected to inhuman or
degrading treatment.
3.2
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, human rights defenders are persecuted,
arrested and even killed, and the political situation is currently tense owing to the collapse
of political talks between the Government and the opposition. These assertions are
supported by several reports and various sources addressing human rights, which have
denounced serious mass violations of the rights of human rights defenders by the Congolese
security forces.
3.3
Expulsion to the Democratic Republic of the Congo would therefore entail a real
risk to the complainant’s life. In this type of situation, the State party usually conducts
additional enquiries, typically through the Swiss diplomatic mission in the complainant’s
country of origin. In the present case, however, nothing of the sort was undertaken, even
though it would have been apposite to try to shed light on the situation and dispel any
reasonable doubts in respect of the direct involvement of General Munene.
State party’s observations on admissibility and the merits
4.1
On 29 November 2017, the State party submitted its observations on the
admissibility and merits of the complaint. It notes that the asylum authorities have duly
1
2
Summary hearing on personal information held on 28 April 2017 and hearing on grounds for asylum
held on 5 May 2017.
GE.19-14950