CAT/C/21/D/101/1997
page 2
Annex
VIEWS OF THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE UNDER ARTICLE 22,
PARAGRAPH 7, OF THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
- TWENTY-FIRST SESSION concerning
Communication No. 101/1997
Submitted by:
Halil Haydin
[represented by counsel]
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Sweden
Date of communication:
7 December 1997
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment,
Meeting on 20 November 1998,
Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 101/1997,
submitted to the Committee against Torture 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
author of the communication, his counsel and the State party,
Adopts its Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention.
1.
The author of the communication is Mr. Halil Haydin, a Turkish national
currently residing in Sweden, where he is seeking refugee status. He claims
that his forced return to Turkey would constitute a violation by Sweden of
article 3 of the Convention against Torture. He is represented by counsel.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1. The author is a Turkish national of Kurdish ethnic origin from Bagdered,
close to Adiyaman, in the south-eastern part of Turkey. He states that his
father and brother were active sympathizers of the PKK (Partya Karkeren
Kurdistan) and that in 1984 his father was sentenced to two years’
imprisonment by a military court for his political activities. The author
himself began to support the organization actively in 1985. He started by
giving food and shelter to members of the PKK, but eventually also handed out
propaganda leaflets in his and surrounding villages.