CAT/C/25/D/122/1998 page 2 Having taken into account all information made available by the author of the communication and the State party, Adopts the following decision: 1.1 The author of the communication is Mr. Mizanur Rahman Pir, a citizen of Bangladesh born in 1969 and currently residing in Switzerland, where he applied for asylum on 29 August 1997. His application having been turned down, he maintains that his forcible repatriation to Bangladesh would constitute a violation by Switzerland of article 3 of the Convention against Torture. He is represented by counsel. 1.2 In accordance with article 22, paragraph 3, of the Convention, the Committee transmitted the communication to the State party on 27 November 1998. At the same time, the State party was requested, pursuant to rule 108, paragraph 9, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, not to expel the author to Bangladesh while his communication was under consideration by the Committee. In a submission dated 22 January 1999, the State party informed the Committee that steps had been taken to ensure that the author was not returned to Bangladesh while his case was pending before the Committee. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author claims to be a member of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the main opposition political party. He was president of the BNP Union from 1994 to 1997 and vice-president of a regional BNP youth organization (the Yuba Dubal) as of 1997. 2.2 On 13 January 1997, the author and his brother were apparently attacked by members of the Awami League (AL), the political party in power. The author managed to flee, but his brother was seriously injured. A complaint was lodged with the police. The police arrested one of the suspected attackers, but quickly released him without charge. Members of the arrested person’s family also exerted pressure on the author, who in the end withdrew his complaint. 2.3 After that incident, the author was forced to leave his home during the day. In the night of 13-14 June 1997, an AL member who was a driver for one of the organization’s leaders, Mr. Shafijrahman, was killed. The attack’s intended victim was apparently Mr. Shafijrahman himself, who was prompted to lodge a complaint against the author and four other BNP sympathizers. In that regard, the author points out that, in Bangladesh, it is common practice for BNP members to have complaints lodged against them and to be charged on non-existent grounds; this, in fact, constituted an abuse of power by AL members to intimidate and eliminate political opponents. After the complaint was lodged, the author decided to leave his country immediately. 2.4 The author arrived in Switzerland on 26 August 1997 and applied for asylum on 29 August 1997. His application was turned down on 7 January 1998, essentially on the grounds that the attack against him and his brother had not been carried out by the State. The author appealed the ruling to the Swiss appeals court dealing with asylum matters. The appeal was rejected on 15 April 1998.

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