CAT/C/64/D/783/2016
2.9
The complainant submits that in March 2015, he had sex with a 14-year-old minor,
who was one of the students to whom he was giving private lessons. When the family of the
minor learned about the issue, one of the family members visited the complainant’s home
but could not find him.10 The complainant became very anxious, as he feared that the family
of the minor would accuse him of rape. He hid for a while, before fleeing to Europe. The
complainant alleges that he entered Switzerland on 20 August 2015, after travelling through
several European countries. 11 On the same day, he applied for asylum in Switzerland. 12
Since then, he claims to have been going to gay clubs in Switzerland and to have started a
relationship with a man whom he met at the refugee centre.
2.10 Once in Switzerland, the complainant contacted Queer Amnesty (a division of
Amnesty International) and requested a representative of that organization to visit him in
detention.13 The complainant attaches a letter from Queer Amnesty describing his resolve,
if sent back to the Islamic Republic of Iran, to counter Islamic fanaticism and to influence
as many people as possible to fight for freedom of religion.
2.11 On 24 August and 12 October 2015, the complainant was interviewed by the State
Secretariat for Migration. On 4 November 2015, the State Secretariat for Migration rejected
his asylum application,14 finding that the rapes allegedly endured by the complainant during
his military service in 1997 and 1998 were not relevant, as he did not leave the Islamic
Republic of Iran until 2015. The State Secretariat for Migration was of the view that it did
not seem probable that the complainant had any problems with the Iranian authorities, and
that there was no reason to believe that the authorities were aware about his sexual
orientation or would learn about it in the future as the complainant had indicated that he had
not had homosexual relationships since he had finished his studies and that he had partly
given up on his intimate life. 15 The Swiss authorities considered that the threshold for
collective persecution of homosexuals in the Islamic Republic of Iran had not been met for
the moment. The State Secretariat for Migration also affirmed that the Iranian authorities
were unaware of his atheism, and that there was no reason for them to discover it as the
complainant was not a public activist. Finally, the State Secretariat for Migration argued
that the complainant had not claimed during any of the interviews to have suffered from
any psychological or other health problems.
2.12 The complainant filed an appeal against the decision of the State Secretariat for
Migration to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court on 15 November 2015. The judgment,
dated 17 December 2015,16 upheld the conclusions of the State Secretariat for Migration.
The court upheld the fact that the complainant had not had any problems with the Iranian
authorities prior to his departure and noted that the complainant’s abstinence was selfdetermined.
2.13 The complainant adds that he has been treated by a psychiatrist, from 10 December
2015 to May 2016, and attaches two medical reports 17 and a letter from Queer International
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The family member referred to only found the complainant’s brother.
Namely Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. However, the
complainant does not indicate at this stage whether he crossed the Swiss border on foot or arrived by
plane.
The complainant did not disclose information about his sexual orientation to the Swiss authorities
during the asylum proceedings.
The complainant does not explain what type of detention he refers to; his internment in a refugee
centre, or some other kind.
The complainant attaches a copy of the official decision in German as well as an unofficial executive
summary in English.
According to the complainant’s translation of the decision, the State Secretariat for Migration
reported that during the proceedings, the complainant stated that sexuality was not so important for
him anymore.
The complainant attaches a copy of the original decision in German as well as an unofficial executive
summary in English.
The complainant attaches two medical reports (dated August and November 2016) in German from
Dr. Laszlo Urogi. Dr. Urogi confirms the complainant’s claim about his state of mental health, which
requires urgent treatment for an undetermined period that could take a number of years. Dr. Urogi
states that he is not aware whether the required treatment would be available to the complainant in the
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