CAT/C/21/D/97/1997 page 2 Annex VIEWS OF THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE UNDER ARTICLE 22, PARAGRAPH 7, OF THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT - TWENTY-FIRST SESSION concerning Communication No. 97/1997 Submitted by: Orhan Ayas [represented by counsel] Alleged victim: The author State party: Sweden Date of communication: 12 November 1997 The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 12 November 1998, Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 97/1997, submitted to the Committee against Torture under article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Having taken into account all information made available to it by the author of the communication, her counsel and the State party, Adopts its Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention. 1. The author of the communication is Mr. Orhan Ayas, a Turkish citizen born in 1973, currently residing in Sweden where he is seeking asylum. He claims that his forced return to Turkey would constitute a violation by Sweden of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He is represented by counsel. Facts as presented by the author 2.1 The author is a Kurd born and raised in Midyat, south-east Turkey. His family has been known to the Turkish authorities for a long time because several family members and friends have been involved in the activities of the PKK (Partya Karkeren Kurdistan, Kurdistan Workers Party). They also owned two cafes which were meeting places for PKK sympathizers. As a result, members of the family have frequently been subjected to arrest and interrogation. The frequency as well as the gravity of the intimidation increased in the late 1980s, after one of the author's brothers fled the country because of his political activities. In 1991, when the author was 18, he was arrested three times by the military police and interrogated,

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