CAT/C/21/D/100/1997
page 3
of his father's warned him that the Lagos police had issued a warrant for his
arrest because of his activities in opposition to the championship. After
learning of the warrant for his arrest, the author, who normally lived in
Lagos, went to the town of Epe, where he hid for several months before his
departure for Europe.
2.2
On 14 August 1995, the author filed an application for asylum in
Switzerland, which was rejected on 28 May 1996 by the Federal Office for
Refugees (Office Fédéral des réfugiés - ODR). On 23 September 1997, his
appeal was rejected by the Appeal Commission (Commission suisse de recours en
matière d'asile - CRA). A request for revision, filed on 6 November 1997, was
rejected by CRA on 18 November 1997.
2.3
By way of evidence, the author produced the warrant for his arrest, a
document which he claims to have obtained from Nigeria. The Swiss authorities
considered the document to be a forgery. The author states that he was
unaware of this and that he was acquitted by the St. Gallen district court of
the charge of falsifying documents. He likewise points out that the Swiss
authorities never contacted any of the persons with whom he worked on
preparations for the demonstrations in Nigeria, nor the police officer
mentioned above, despite the fact that he provided them with the officer's
name and address. In addition, he states that he was not allowed to see the
report about his case drawn up by the Swiss Embassy in Lagos, and received
only a summary. Finally, he claims that, during his two hearings with the
Swiss immigration authorities, he gave the same version of the events that had
prompted his departure from Nigeria.
The complaint
3.1
The author points out that the Swiss authorities have not granted asylum
to anyone from Nigeria since 1991, despite the fact that some 100 applications
are filed every year. He claims that prisoners are systematically tortured in
Nigeria, and that rejected asylum-seekers are arrested on their return. In
view of his experiences in Nigeria, and of his activities in Switzerland to
promote human rights in Nigeria, including the items he has published in
Planetá, Ostschweiz and St. Galler Tagblatt, as well as his participation in
various demonstrations, he risks being persecuted by the Nigerian authorities
if he is sent back. He would in all likelihood be arrested and held under
threat of torture.
The State party's observations on the admissibility and merits of the
communication
4.1
By letter dated 19 February 1998, the State party informs the Committee
that, pursuant to its request under rule 108 (9) of the Committee's rules of
procedure, the authorities have decided to defer sending back the author for
so long as his communication is pending before the Committee. The State party
also points out that the author has exhausted domestic remedies, and does not
contest the admissibility of the communication.
4.2
With regard to the merits, the State party observes that the author
filed an application for asylum which was rejected by ODR, inter alia, because
he had not succeeded in credibly establishing that he belonged to NADECO.