CAT/C/22/D/112/1998
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-SECOND SESSION
concerning
Communication No. 112/1998
Submitted by:
H.D. [name deleted]
[represented by counsel]
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Switzerland
Date of communication:
4 June 1998
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment,
Meeting on 30 April 1999,
Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 112/1998,
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, his counsel and the State party,
Adopts its Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention.
1.
The author of the communication is H.D., a Turkish citizen of Kurdish
origin who was born in 1960. He has been refused refugee status in
Switzerland and is threatened with being returned to Turkey with his wife and
two children. He states that his return to Turkey would be in contradiction
with Switzerland's obligations under article 3 of the Convention. He is
represented by counsel.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
The author is from the Pazarcik region of Turkey. He states that he was
a supporter of the illegal PKK party as a student, but did not participate in
specific activities apart from providing food and clothing to friends who were
involved with the PKK. He says that one of his cousins, an active PKK member
who had been imprisoned from September 1990 to April 1991, came to stay with
him and his family after his release. On 14 and 15 May 1991, members of the
security forces came to search for his cousin in his home. Not finding him,
they arrested the author on 15 May and took him first to Pazarcik police