CAT/C/65/D/691/2015
regular mental and physical abuse, including by beating and insulting her. They also
threatened to send her back to the Islamic Republic of Iran. She talked to a lawyer but
decided not to file a complaint.1
2.2
In June 2013, the complainant’s husband filed for divorce but later withdrew his
application. In November 2013, he again filed for divorce without informing her. On that
occasion, the divorce was made official. 2 After the divorce, the complainant’s temporary
residence permit was not renewed by the Swedish authorities.
2.3
Given the consequences of the divorce and taking into account the threats that the
complainant was still receiving from her ex-husband, she decided to apply for asylum in
Sweden. The day she went to the office of the Swedish Migration Board to obtain
information on the asylum application, a lawyer was appointed to represent her. Her exhusband became extremely distressed about that and locked her in their bedroom during the
night. She was so afraid of him that the next day she went to the police and contacted her
lawyer, who helped her to move to a women’s shelter. Her ex-husband then began to send
her messages that he loved her and wanted her back. As she did not reply, he threatened her
by telephone and through friends, saying that he would disseminate intimate pictures of her
in the Islamic Republic of Iran and spread the rumour that she had relationships with other
men while in Sweden. He accused her of infidelity and told her family in the Islamic
Republic of Iran about these accusations. His brothers also visited her family in the Islamic
Republic of Iran and told them that she had dishonoured them and would be punished. Her
ex-husband’s relatives have tried to contact the complainant by telephone in Sweden, but
she did not answer their phone calls out of fear.
2.4
Furthermore, the complainant claims to be a member of the Democratic Party of
Iranian Kurdistan, which the Iranian authorities consider to be a terrorist group. She
submitted two letters, dated 29 April 2014 and 15 July 2015, from the party’s office of
international relations in Europe, which indicated that she was a sympathizer of the party
and that if she was returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran her life would be in danger. 3
She submits that she has been a member of the party since she was 18 years old and that her
two brothers, who both currently live in Denmark, are also members of the party. 4 They
were granted asylum in Denmark because of the threats they received from the Iranian
authorities as a consequence of their political affiliation. 5 She claims that her third brother
was killed as a result of his affiliation with the party. 6
2.5
The complainant applied for asylum on 11 December 2013. On 27 June 2014, the
Swedish Migration Board rejected her application. It considered that her story lacked
credibility and that she did not demonstrate that she would face a well-founded risk of
honour-related violence upon her return to the Islamic Republic of Iran, either by her family
or her ex-husband’s family. The Board did not question her membership in the Democratic
Party of Iranian Kurdistan, but considered that she did not provide a reliable account of the
persecution she would face if she was returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
2.6
On an unspecified date, the complainant appealed the Board’s decision. On 14
October 2014, the Migration Court rejected her appeal, considering that she had provided
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
According to one of the appendices to the complaint, the complainant did file a police report
regarding the abuse and threats, but the investigation was later closed (a copy of the police decision
was submitted with other documents).
No date provided.
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan office of international relations in Europe is located in
Paris. A copy of the letters is provided.
The complainant submits a letter dated 7 June 2001 by the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
office of international relations in Europe indicating that her brother, S.S., is a sympathizer of the
party and that, if he was returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran his life would be in danger.
The complainant provides copies of passports, driver’s licences and residence permits of her two
brothers, S.S. and K.S., in Denmark. She also provides a copy of a certificate issued by Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicating that her brother S.S. was recognized as a
refugee in 2001.
The complainant provides a copy of a list of “victims of terrorism by the Iranian State” issued by the
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan office of international relations in Europe, in which her brother
K.S. is listed as a martyr. She also provides photographs of his funeral.