CCPR/C/114/D/2360/2014
refugee status in Denmark.2 The author claims that by forcibly deporting her and her
children to Italy, Denmark would violate their rights under article 7 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The author is represented by the Danish Refugee
Council. The first Optional Protocol to the Covenant entered into force for Denmark on 23
March 1976.
1.2
On 19 March 2014, pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party not to deport the author and her children to Italy while
their case was under consideration by the Committee.
1.3
On 4 December 2014, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, denied the State party’s request to lift the interim
measures.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
The author was born on 2 May 1990 in Kismayo, Somalia. She belongs to the
Shekhal clan, and is Muslim. She has three children: S (born in Libya in 2007), SU (born
in Italy in 2010), and F (born in Denmark in 2013).
2.2
The author fled Somalia due to fear of her former husband, a powerful 70-year-old
local clansman, to whom she was forcibly wed at age 17. The marriage was agreed upon by
two rival clans as part of the settlement of a clan conflict. The author was subjected to
continuous and serious acts of violence, rape and harassment by her husband She had tried
to several times to escape before actually succeeding. Since she has run away from a
marriage arranged by her own clan, she cannot seek the protection from the Shekhal clan
from her former husband.
2.3
After fleeing Somalia and her former husband, the author discovered that she was
pregnant. She entered Libya and was held for four months in a detention centre, where she
gave birth to her daughter S.
2.4
Upon release from the detention centre, on an unspecified date, the author fled Libya
and sailed in a ship towards Europe. After four days at sea, the ship ran out of fuel and the
author and other passengers ran out of food and water. They were rescued by the Italian
coastguard in May 2008 and taken to Lampedusa. There, the author was given food and
medical assistance and her fingerprints were registered. Thereafter, the author and her
daughter, along with other asylum seekers were flown by the Italian authorities to Sicily.
Upon arrival, the author and her daughter were offered shelter in a reception facility, where
they stayed with eight other women in one room. They were given food, shelter and access
to sanitary facilities during their four-month stay there, and the author was interviewed with
regard to her asylum application.
2.5
On 3 September 2008, the author and her daughter were given subsidiary protection
by the Italian authorities and were issued a residence permit valid from 3 September 2008
to 4 November 2011. The residence permit was not renewed and is thus no longer valid.
2.6
The day after the author was issued a residence permit, she was informed by the
staff that she could no longer stay at the reception centre and that she would not be offered
any assistance to find alternative temporary shelter, work or more permanent housing.
2
At the time of submission of the present communication, the author’s counsel was informed that their
deportation was scheduled to take place “at some point within the next few weeks”.
3