CAT/C/47/D/374/2009
Annex
Decision of the Committee against Torture under article 22 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (forty-seventh
session)
concerning
Communication No. 374/2009
Submitted by:
S.M., H.M. and A.M. (represented by
counsel, Sanna Vestin)
Alleged victim:
The complainants
State party:
Sweden
Date of complaint:
11 November 2008 (initial submission)
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Meeting on 21 November 2011,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 374/2009, submitted to the
Committee against Torture by S.M., H.M. and A.M. under article 22 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the complainants,
their counsel and the State party,
Adopts the following:
Decision under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against
Torture
1.
The complainants of the communication, dated 11 November 2008 and 9 February
2009, are Mr. S.M. (born in 1950) and Mrs. H.M. (born in 1955). The communication is
also submitted on behalf of their daughter, A.M. (born in 1992). They claim that their
deportation to Azerbaijan would constitute a breach by Sweden of article 3 of the
Convention. The complainants are represented by counsel, Sanna Vestin.
The facts as presented by the complainants
2.1
The complainants originate from the enclave Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1988, they
became internally displaced persons (IDPs) and lived near Baku. S.M. is Christian
Armenian on the maternal side; he looks and speaks like a typical Armenian. This caused
ethnically motivated persecution of the whole family in Azerbaijan. S.M. alleges that one of
his sisters committed suicide after she had been raped, in front of him. Therefore, in order
to diminish the risk of persecution, he decided to leave his wife and daughter in Azerbaijan
and search for work outside the country, in Moscow, visiting them only occasionally.
2