CAT/C/65/D/801/2017
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
30 January 2019
Original: English
Committee against Torture
Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the
Convention, concerning communication No. 801/2017*, **
Communication submitted by:
E.T. (represented by counsel Judith Pieters)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Netherlands
Date of complaint:
23 February 2015 (initial submission)
Date of decision:
26 November 2018
Subject matter:
Deportation from the Netherlands to Armenia
Procedural issues:
None
Substantive issues:
Risk of torture and ill-treatment
Article of the Convention:
Article 3
1.1
The complainant is E.T., born on 8 August 1984, a national of Armenia. His
application for asylum has been rejected by the Netherlands. The complainant claims that
his deportation to Armenia would constitute a violation of his rights under article 3 of the
Convention. The complainant is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 6 February 2017, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new
complaints and interim measures, informed the complainant that it had denied his request
for the provision of interim measures consisting of the issuance of a request to the State
party to refrain from removing him to Armenia pending the examination of his complaint.
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant was a member of the Republic party, an opposition party in
Armenia. His task was to distribute flyers and pamphlets and he participated in
demonstrations. On 15 October 2010, the complainant was arrested during a demonstration
on charges of having disturbed the public order. He was detained for five days at a police
station in Yerevan where he was severely beaten by police officers. When the complainant
was released he stayed at home for a couple of days because he was badly injured and as he
was working as a driver for someone “who worked for the Government” he did not want
the reason for his injuries to be known. When the complainant went back to work, his
manager was furious as he had found out why he had been absent from work. The manager
* Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-fifth session (12 November–7 December 2018).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Essadia Belmir, Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Jens Modvig, Ana Racu,
Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Sébastien Touzé, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov and Honghong Zhang.
GE.19-01463(E)