Information Note on the Court’s case-law 20
July 2000
Tatete v. Switzerland - 41874/98
Judgment 6.7.2000 [Section II]
Article 2
Article 2-1
Life
Illegal immigrant suffering from AIDS sent back to her own country: friendly settlement
The applicant, whose country of origin is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, entered Switzerland illegally in February 1997. One month later her application for asylum was refused and she was requested to leave Switzerland. Her appeal against that refusal was dismissed, as was her request that her case be reopened. Shortly before the latter request was rejected, in October 1997, the applicant was admitted to hospital and found to have AIDS, and, in particular, to be suffering from pneumonia, which in the hospital’s view meant that her return to her country of origin would have to be postponed. After being admitted to hospital for a second time, the applicant, relying on her state of health, requested the Swiss authorities responsible for asylum matters to reconsider her situation. In support of her request, she produced a medical certificate which stated, inter alia, that her HIV infection was at the C3 stage and that she had tuberculosis and pneumonia. At that stage, a monthly medical examination was necessary and, once the tuberculosis had been treated, a tritherapy against AIDS could be undertaken in order to reduce the risk of developing fresh diseases and to improve her long-term life expectancy. The document concluded that if the applicant’s treatment should cease abruptly as a result of her being returned to her country of origin her short-term health would deteriorate. This request for a reconsideration of her situation was rejected, both at first instance in January 1998 and on appeal in April 1998, on the grounds that tuberculosis and hepatitis could be treated in Kinshasa and that although the care given in Switzerland might postpone the development of AIDS, that disease was fatal sooner or later. The Swiss authorities also pointed out that the applicant’s family circle in her country of origin would be beneficial to her and, last, that she could be given medicines and instructions for her future doctors when she left Switzerland.
The parties reached a friendly settlement when the applicant was granted temporary leave to remain and paid 6,000 Swiss francs (CHF) by way of lump-sum compensation for all the harm sustained.
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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