Application No. 33707/96
by Abdel Kemal TILMATINE
against the United Kingdom
The European Commission of Human Rights sitting in private on
25 February 1997, the following members being present:
Mr. S. TRECHSEL, President
Mrs. G.H. THUNE
Mrs. J. LIDDY
MM. E. BUSUTTIL
G. JÖRUNDSSON
A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK
A. WEITZEL
J.-C. SOYER
H. DANELIUS
F. MARTINEZ
C.L. ROZAKIS
L. LOUCAIDES
J.-C. GEUS
B. MARXER
M.A. NOWICKI
I. CABRAL BARRETO
B. CONFORTI
N. BRATZA
I. BÉKÉS
J. MUCHA
D. SVÁBY
G. RESS
A. PERENIC
C. BÎRSAN
P. LORENZEN
K. HERNDL
E. BIELIUNAS
E.A. ALKEMA
M. VILA AMIGÓ
Mrs. M. HION
Mr. R. NICOLINI
Mr. H.C. KRÜGER, Secretary to the Commission
Having regard to Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
Having regard to the application introduced on 1 October 1996 by
Abdel Kemal TILMATINE against the United Kingdom and registered on
7 November 1996 under file No. 33707/96;
Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules
of Procedure of the Commission;
Having deliberated;
Decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant is an Algerian citizen, born in 1965 and resident
in London. He is represented before the Commission by Jawaid Luqmani,
a solicitor practising in London. The facts of the case as submitted
by the applicant may be summarised as follows.
The applicant arrived in the United Kingdom in 1993 and applied
for asylum. In September 1993 his claim for asylum was dismissed and
in May 1994 the Immigration Appeal Tribunal also dismissed his appeal.
In November 1994 the Court of Appeal dismissed a further appeal. The
Immigration Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal accepted that the
applicant was a member of the FIS Islamic Fundamentalist group in
Algeria and that he had been involved in a bombing of an airport in
which ten persons were killed. The Court of Appeal gave leave to appeal
to the House of Lords.
The House of Lords, in a detailed judgment, dismissed his appeal
on 22 May 1996. The House of Lords accepted that the applicant had been
tried in his absence for, inter alia, the airport bombing, that he had
been convicted and sentenced to death and that he risked his life and
freedom should he return to Algeria. However, they concluded that the
Immigration Appeal Tribunal had been right in its conclusion that there
were serious reasons for considering that the applicant had committed
a "serious non-political crime" in Algeria, that the applicant's case
fell within Article 1F(b) of the Geneva Convention on the Status of
Refugees 1951 and that he thereby lost any protection which would have
been available under the Geneva Convention 1951.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complains under Article 2 of the Convention that
he faces the execution of a death sentence if expelled to Algeria which
sentence was imposed after a trial in his absence. He also complains
under Article 3 of the Convention that he runs a real risk on expulsion
of treatment contrary to that Article. He also invokes Articles 5, 6
and 13 of the Convention.
REASONS FOR THE DECISION
The Commission recalls that under Article 30 para. 1(a) and (c)
of the Convention it may decide to strike a petition out of its list
of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the
applicant does not intend to pursue his case or that it is, for any
other reason, established by the Commission that it is no longer
justified to continue the examination of it. The Commission shall,
however, continue its examination of the petition if respect for human
rights, as defined in the Convention, so requires.
The Commission notes, from the applicant's representative's
letter dated 24 December 1996, that the applicant wishes to withdraw
his complaint.
It is also noted from that letter that the Home Office have
decided not to proceed with the applicant's removal and that the
applicant has been granted one year's leave to remain on an exceptional
basis. Accordingly, the Commission considers that it is no longer
justified to continue the examination of the case and that respect for
human rights as defined in the Convention does not require it to
continue that examination.
It follows that the application may be struck off the list of
cases pursuant to Article 30 para. 1(a) and (c) of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Commission, unanimously,
DECIDES TO STRIKE THE APPLICATION OUT OF ITS LIST OF CASES.
H.C. KRÜGER S. TRECHSEL
Secretary President
to the Commission of the Commission
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