Application No. 22417/93
by Saidajan TURABAZ
against Greece
The European Commission of Human Rights (Second Chamber) sitting
in private on 7 December 1994, the following members being present:
MM. S. TRECHSEL, President
H. DANELIUS
G. JÖRUNDSSON
J.-C. SOYER
H.G. SCHERMERS
Mrs. G.H. THUNE
MM. F. MARTINEZ
L. LOUCAIDES
J.-C. GEUS
M.A. NOWICKI
I. CABRAL BARRETO
J. MUCHA
D. SVÁBY
Mr. K. ROGGE, Secretary to the Chamber
Having regard to Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
Having regard to the application introduced on 4 March 1993 by
Saidajan TURABAZ against Greece and registered on 4 August 1993 under
file No. 22417/93;
Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules
of Procedure of the Commission;
Having regard to :
- the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure of
the Commission;
- the observations submitted by the respondent Government on 3 June
1994;
Having deliberated;
Decides as follows:
THE FACTS
The applicant is an Afghan citizen born in 1960 and presently
residing in Canada.
The facts as they have been submitted by the parties can be
summarised as follows:
The applicant entered Greece illegally on 25 February 1991 coming
from Turkey. He lodged an application for asylum with the Police
Director of Orestiada.
The Government submit, on the one hand, that the applicant
invoked in support of his application his general opposition to the
regime in Afghanistan and declared that he did not belong to any
political party or organisation and that he was never prosecuted for
or convicted of anti-state activities.
The applicant claimed, on the other hand, before the Commission,
that he had been a member of the Afghan Revolutionists Patriotic
Organization. In 1980, when the Soviet army took over he was imprisoned
as a result of his political activities. In 1981 he escaped from
Afghanistan and found refuge in Pakistan. After a short stay in that
country he returned to Afghanistan and lived in a village which at that
time was not under the control of the Soviet army. In 1984 the Soviet
troops attacked the village and he was arrested and sentenced to 16
years' imprisonment. Some of his comrades were executed. Two years
later he was released on parole and escaped to Pakistan. While in
Pakistan he was persecuted by fundamentalist groups. On 25 June 1990
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Peshawar
certified that the applicant was a refugee with security problems in
Pakistan.
On 18 June 1991 the applicant was recognised as a mandate refugee
by the Athens office of the UNHCR.
On 10 September 1991 the Secretary General of the Ministry of
Public Order refused to recognise the applicant as a refugee under
Article 1A of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951. The applicant was
ordered to leave Greece within two months.
In October 1993, after having lodged the present application with
the Commission, the applicant left Greece for Canada, where he applied
for refugee status.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complained that, since he had no residence permit
in Greece, he could at any time be arrested and returned to his country
of origin. He complained under Article 3 of the Convention that his
deportation to Afghanistan would amount to inhuman treatment, since it
would expose him to the risks of the civil war in Afghanistan and to
severe persecutions because of his political activities as a member of
the Afghan Revolutionists Patriotic Organization.
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION
The application was introduced on 4 March 1993 and registered on
4 August 1993.
On 2 March 1994 the Commission decided to communicate the
application to the respondent Government and to request them to submit
written observations on admissibility and merits.
The Government submitted their observations on 3 June 1994 after
one extension in the time-limit fixed for this purpose.
In the absence of information as to the applicant's present
address in Canada, a letter transmitting the Government's observations
and inviting the applicant to submit observations in reply before
3 August 1994 was sent to his former address in Greece. This letter
and a reminder of 12 October 1994 sent to the same address have
remained unanswered.
REASONS FOR THE DECISION
The Commission notes that the applicant has failed to indicate
his new address and that letters from the Secretariat to his former
address have remained unanswered.
The Commission concludes under Article 30 para. 1 (a) of the
Convention that the applicant no longer intends to pursue his petition.
It further considers that respect for Human Rights as defined in the
Convention does not require it to continue the examination of the
application.
For these reasons, the Commission, unanimously,
DECIDES TO STRIKE THE APPLICATION OUT OF THE LIST OF CASES.
Secretary to the Second Chamber President of the Second Chamber
(K. ROGGE) (S. TRECHSEL)
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy