CEDAW/C/71/D/81/2015
1.
The author is a national of the Russian Federation, born in 1985. She sought
asylum in Denmark and her request was rejected. She claims that her deportation
would amount to a violation by Denmark of articles 2 (d)–(f), 5 (a) and 16 (1) (d) of
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The author is represented by counsel, Jytte Lindgard, NHG Advokater, Denmark.
Facts as submitted by the author
2.1 The author is a Russian citizen of Chechen origin. She arrived in Denmark on
12 November 2013 and applied for asylum. The Danish Immigration Service rejected
her application on 5 October 2014. On 16 January 2015, on appeal, the Danish
Refugee Appeals Board confirmed the decision of the Service.
2.2 Before the Danish asylum authorities, the author claimed that she had faced
problems in Chechnya during her first marriage, when she was living with her
husband and his parents. In October 2005, while her husband and his parents were at
work, Chechen rebels came to the house asking for food. The rebels later left the
house. The next day, the author’s husband and his father were arrested and allegedly
tortured by the authorities for three days. The author wanted to move to her parents ’
house, but her father ordered her to return to her husband ’s house. The rebels came
again some six weeks later, asking for food and taking all the clothes, shoes and other
items belonging to the author’s husband. The author called her father-in-law, who was
at work, and asked him to return home immediately, but he refused, and he and her
husband did not come home until the following weekend.
2.3 In 2006, after the rebels’ second visit, the author’s father allowed her to move
to her parents’ house and seek a divorce. The Chechen authorities started to summon
her for interrogations every six weeks. They asked her to provide them with
information about the rebels, including on their whereabouts, their movements and
whether they had recruited new members. They also interrogated her about specific
people and asked her to enquire about them. She refused initially, but acquiesced
when the authorities threatened her.
2.4 In the middle of 2010, her father was arrested. While the author was in the house
with her mother and daughter, her father called and told her that he had been arrested
and that she should come to the Department of Internal Affairs in Grozny. When the
author arrived, she was received by two Russian soldiers who took her to the cell in
which her father was being kept. The cell was inside a large room in which the author
saw about six or seven officials. 1 The soldiers left and the author’s father was
released. The officials then began interrogating the author about the rebels. They
tortured her by tying her hands and legs and raping her one by one. They left her lying
and tied up on the floor for approximately one hour. They then allowed her to go to
the bathroom and clean up, before releasing her. After a month, she felt nauseous and,
suspecting that she was pregnant, she took abortion pills.
2.5 Some six weeks later, the author was again summoned and interrogated. As she
refused to reveal any information, she was again tied up and raped. She cried and told
them that the last time she had become pregnant and that she would not inform on
other people. The officials replied that they would treat her in that manner every time
she was summoned if she refused to cooperate. When she agreed to cooperate, they
stopped the torture and made her sign a piece of paper, which she did without reading.
They continued calling her every six weeks and she either invented information or
gave information about the rebels’ visits. On an undetermined date in 2011, the
authorities called her and she again provided false information. The authorities found
out that she was lying, so they shaved her eyebrows and cut her hair very short.
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1
2/10
The author refers to “Kadyrov’s people”, Kadyrov being the leader of Chechnya.
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