CAT/C/39/D/303/2006
Page 3
National Front Party) at age 19. He became head of the young politicians. He is the nephew of
S. M., who became the Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan in 1992. In 1993, a new
party came to power and S. M. was arrested and sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment because
of his AXCP membership. S. M. managed to escape from Azerbaijan and currently resides in
Russia.
2.2 The complainant was arrested and tortured on several occasions since the new
government came to power, including during a demonstration. He claims that, although he
was told that the reason for his arrest was his criticism of the ruling party, the real reason was
his relationship with S. M. On 15 October 2003, he was sent to Baku to observe the
presidential elections. Following the elections, riots broke out in the town. The complainant
was arrested, together with some other participants, and tortured. He was beaten, insulted and
kept in water for over a day. He was released after several days. He claims that the torture
inflicted upon him resulted in a kidney condition, which worsened at the beginning of 2004.
He submits medical reports issued from a hospital in Sweden, which support his claim that his
kidney condition has become chronic and that kidneys could stop functioning at any time,
with possible lethal consequences.1
2.3 After the incident in Baku, the complainant was constantly persecuted. On one occasion,
he was taken to a police station by police officers and was forced to leave his bag outside. He
claims that some other police officers subsequently planted a gun in his bag, on which basis
he was charged with murder and imprisoned. He escaped from prison on the way to court,
having been helped by some friends. With the help of his uncle, he left Azerbaijan for Russia.
On 31 March 2005, the Swedish Migration Board rejected his application for asylum. This
decision was confirmed by the Aliens Appeals Board on 20 January 2006.
The complaint
3.
The complainant claims that his deportation from Sweden to Azerbaijan would
constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention against Torture, as he fears that he will be
arrested and exposed to torture as a result of his own political activities, past torture and
relationship with his uncle, the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs.
State party’s observations on the admissibility and merits
4.1 On 24 April 2007, the State party provided its submissions on the admissibility and the
merits. It sets out the relevant provisions of the 1989 Aliens Act (which has since been
repealed) pointing out that several provisions reflect the same principle as that set out in
article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Thus, the national authority conducting the asylum
interview is naturally in a good position to assess the information submitted by asylum
seekers. On 9 November 2005, temporary amendments were enacted to the 1989 Aliens Act.
On 15 November 2005, these amendments entered into force and were to remain in force until
the entry into force of a new Aliens Act on 31 March 2006. The temporary amendments
introduced additional legal grounds for granting a residence permit with respect to aliens
against whom a final refusal of entry or expulsion order was issued.
4.2 According to the new Chapter 2, section 5 b of the Aliens Act, if new circumstances
come to light concerning enforcement of a refusal-of-entry or expulsion order that has entered
into force, the Swedish Migration Board, acting upon an application from an alien or of its
1
See footnote 2 below.