CAT/C/45/D/349/2008
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1. The complainant joined the Kurdish Workers’ Party (the PKK) in May 1990 at the
age of 17. She participated in its activities for 15 years as a “guerrilla soldier”, took part in
a two-month training course in Iraq. Between 1991 and 1998, her role was to type articles
written by other members of the PKK for magazines. She performed such work for the
PKK leader Öcalan and submitted photos to the Swedish authorities, where she could be
seen with him and other PKK leaders. Until 1998, she was active mostly in areas
surrounding Sirnak and Diyarbakir in Turkey. Although she never participated in battle, she
had to carry arms like any other guerilla soldier. She was armed with a Kalashnikov. On ten
occasions, the Turkish army attacked the Guerilla camp where she was located. In 1997, her
elbow was injured during an attack by the Turkish army.
2.2. In 1998, she was transferred to the main PKK base called the Academia in Syria.
There she participated in a 10-month political education course. During the training, she
was a leader of a group of 20. She was elected to participate in the PKK sixth congress in
Iraq in December 1998 - February 1999. After that, she was active in the PKK’s women
department (the PJA) in Qandil in Iraq. She mostly typed articles of leaders of the party and
colleagues for the magazine Tanrica Zilan, but she also wrote some articles herself.
2.3. At the end of the 1990s, the complainant started to have doubts about the ideology
of the PKK. In 2002, she was detained by them for several months on suspicion of having
helped a guerilla soldier escape and not supporting the PKK and the PJA. She was
questioned repeatedly and humiliated in front of her comrades. She was also brought before
the PKK’s court called the Platform. After a while she was allowed to continue her work at
the PKK Media department where she was kept under supervision. She tried to keep a low
profile. Those who have tried to escape from the guerrilla camps have been executed.
2.4. In May 2004, she was permitted to meet some relatives at a refugee camp in
Machmoor in Iraq. From there, she escaped with the assistance of her uncle, who is a
Swedish citizen. She stayed a couple of months in Iran, than returned to Turkey with false
ID papers and stayed there for a certain period of time, but was afraid to go to regions
where the PKK was active for fear of being recognized and killed. She went to Sweden and
applied for asylum on 14 April 2005. While in Sweden she married a man who also had an
asylum application pending and with whom in 2007 she had a child. Her husband is also a
former PKK guerilla soldier who fled the organization, was subsequently denied refugee
status in Sweden.
2.5. The complainant believes she is wanted by the Turkish authorities, who have
searched for her many times, and arrested and questioned her family members about her
whereabouts. According to her, the Turkish authorities are well aware of her PKK
involvement, as they told her relatives that they know she was a guerilla soldier. Her
brother told the police that she is in Sweden. She argues that if returned to Turkey she risks
up to 15 years of imprisonment for her activities in the PKK, as well as torture in detention.
She also believes that if she is returned to Turkey she will be identified by the PKK as a
defector and killed, and that the Turkish authorities will not protect her.
2.6. On 23 May 2006, the Migration Board rejected her asylum claim and her
applications for residence and work permits. The Board also ordered her expulsion to her
country of origin. It did not question her account of her activities with the PKK, but stated
that she failed to establish that she was wanted by the Turkish authorities. The Board
admitted that there is a risk that she would be arrested and tried, but saw no evidence that
she would receive a “more severe punishment than other persons in the same situation”.
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