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Detention Centre in Chester Hill, Australia. He claims that his removal to Algeria would entail
a violation of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Australia. He is represented by the Refugee Advice
and Casework Service (Australia) Inc.
1.2 In accordance with article 22, paragraph 3, of the Convention, the Committee brought the
Communication to the attention of the State party on 28 January 2000. At the same time,
acting under rule 108, paragraph 9, of its rules of procedure, the Committee requested the State
party not to expel the petitioner to Algeria while his communication was being considered.
The facts as submitted by the petitioner
2.1 On 24 August 1998, coming from South Africa, the petitioner arrived in Australia without
valid travel documents. In his interview at the airport he requested the State party's protection
as a refugee.
2.2 On 3 September 1998, the petitioner made an application for refugee status (protection
visa) with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs under the Migration Act.
On 2 October 1998, a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
delivered a decision denying a protection visa. On 14 December 1998, the Refugee Review
Tribunal RRT) affirmed this decision. On 30 April 1999, the Federal Court of Australia
dismissed the petitioner's request for judicial review.
2.3 On 22 March 1999, the petitioner requested the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural
Affairs to intervene and set aside the decision of the RRT in the public interest, pursuant to
section 417 of the Migration Act. In an undated letter, the Minister responded that he decided
not to exercise this power. On 13 September 1999, counsel again wrote to the Minister
requesting that the petitioner be permitted to submit a second application for a protection visa
pursuant to section 48B of the Migration Act. Counsel has not received a response to this
request.
2.4 The petitioner submits that he was involved in the social assistance activities of the Front
islamique du salut (FIS) since 1990, i.e. after work, the petitioner sued to go to the local FIS
office and assess what to give to families in need. In January 1992, after the results of the
general election for the National Peoples' Assembly were cancelled, the local FIS office was
closed and the petitioner was called by the police (gendarmerie) and questioned for more than
two hours. The petitioner submits that after his release, he was required to report to the
gendarmerie on a daily basis and not to leave his hometown, Ngaos. On 16 September 1994,
supported by a friend, he left Algeria for the Syrian Arab Republic by plane. The day after his
departure, and again in October, the gendarmerie questioned his father about the residence of
the alleged victim. It is further submitted that the petitioner's father subsequently advised him
not to return to Algeria because the police accused him of avoiding his military recall.
2.5 The petitioner submits that he left Algeria in 1994 after he heard of an official decree
calling up reservists who had only served 18 months of military service for an extra six
months. The petitioner had served in the National Republic Army from May 1988 to March
1990. The petitioner submits that in March 1994 it was reported that the Algerian Minister of
the Interior announced the Government's intention to draft thousands of army reservists and
that these reports were not before the RRT when it reviewed the case.
2.6 The petitioner submits that, in 1996, he obtained a copy of a court verdict, dated 17
November 1996, convicting him of forming a terrorist group and, in absentia, sentencing him
to death. (1)
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/MasterFrameView/ef5cf4f105d527a1c1256c62005...
26.02.2008