CAT/C/33/D/223/2002
Page 3
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant belongs to the Ershad faction of the Jatiya Party in
Bangladesh, which is not part of the present Government coalition. He claims having
participated in activities organized by the Party in Mithapur, including meetings,
demonstrations, distribution of pamphlets, construction of roads and schools and
charity work. Because of his involvement with the Party he was kidnapped about 20
times by members of the governing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) who kept
him for periods ranging from a few hours to one week and beat him. Those incidents
were reported to the Police who took no action.
2.2
The complainant was reportedly arrested by Bangladeshi police on three
occasions and taken to the Madariapur police station, where he was tortured. He was
exposed, inter alia, to beatings, rape attempts, electric shocks, cigarette burns,
beatings on the soles of the feet, was hanged from the ceiling and forced to drink dirty
water. On one occasion he was accused of unspecified crimes and on the other two he
was accused, respectively, of murder and violence in the course of a demonstration.
He denies the facts of which he was accused and claims that the purpose of the arrests
was to bring his political activities to an end. Counsel states that, because of his
mental condition, the complainant cannot recall the exact dates but it seems that such
arrests took place in August 1996 and November 1998. The complainant also claims
to have been convicted for attempted murder and sentenced to eight years’
imprisonment.
2.3
Copies of the medical reports issued by three Swedish doctors in 2001 are
attached to the complaint. They indicate that the complainant suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder, that the scars on his body are consistent with the acts of
torture that he described and that he requires medical treatment.
2.4
The complainant argues that he has exhausted domestic remedies. His asylum
application was rejected by the Swedish Migration Board on 21 February 2001 and
his appeal of that decision was rejected by the Aliens Appeals Board on 3 June 2002.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that he will be tortured again if he is returned to
Bangladesh. In support of his claim he refers, inter alia, to NGO reports indicating
that the use of torture by the police in Bangladesh is common.
State party’s submissions on the admissibility and merits of the complaint
4.1
On 29 April 2003 the State party submitted its observations on the
admissibility and merits of the complaint. It indicates that the complainant entered
Sweden on 23 March 1999 using a forged passport which contained a forged
certificate of permanent residence in Sweden. On the same day he applied for asylum
and presented a genuine passport to the Swedish authorities.
4.2
The Migration Board interviewed the complainant on the same day. He stated,
inter alia, that he started working for the Jatiya Party upon finishing his education in