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S.S. v. SWEDEN

Doc ref: 22308/93 • ECHR ID: 001-1674

Document date: September 8, 1993

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S.S. v. SWEDEN

Doc ref: 22308/93 • ECHR ID: 001-1674

Document date: September 8, 1993

Cited paragraphs only

Application No. 22308/93

by S.S.

against Sweden

The European Commission of Human Rights sitting in private on

8 September 1993, the following members being present:

MM. C.A. NØRGAARD, President

S. TRECHSEL

A. WEITZEL

F. ERMACORA

E. BUSUTTIL

G. JÖRUNDSSON

A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK

J.-C. SOYER

H.G. SCHERMERS

H. DANELIUS

Mrs. G.H. THUNE

MM. F. MARTINEZ

C.L. ROZAKIS

Mrs. J. LIDDY

MM. L. LOUCAIDES

J.-C. GEUS

M.P. PELLONPÄÄ

B. MARXER

G.B. REFFI

M.A. NOWICKI

I. CABRAL BARRETO

B. CONFORTI

N. BRATZA

Mr. M. de SALVIA, Deputy 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 15 July 1993 by

S.S. against Sweden and registered on 22 July 1993 under file No.

22308/93;

Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules

of Procedure of the Commission;

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent

Government on 12 August 1993 and the observations in reply submitted

by the applicant on 1 September 1993.

Having deliberated;

Decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant is a Kurd with Iraqi citizenship and resident in

Sweden. He was born in 1959. Before the Commission he is represented

by Mr. Lars Sjödin, a lawyer practising in Härnösand.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be

summarised as follows.

The applicant lived in the Soviet Union from 1978 to 1984 and

from 1988 to June 1990, when he was denied a further residence permit

despite the fact that he had married a Soviet woman in 1984.

The applicant entered Sweden on 24 August 1990. On 27 August 1990

he requested asylum or, alternatively, a residence permit by reason of

his activities in a Kurdish guerilla movement from 1985 to 1988 as an

interpreter and agitator. The rest of the family remained in Baku,

Azerbaijan, in the then Soviet Union.

On 29 April 1991 the National Immigration Board (statens

invandrarverk) rejected the request, considering that, as the

applicant's wife and children were still living in the Soviet Union,

he would be protected from being returned to Iraq or another country

where he would lack such protection.

The applicant appealed, arguing that his marriage under Soviet

law was no longer valid and that his wife was about to leave him.

Moreover, he had left the Soviet Union as he had not been granted a

residence permit to stay there. It was therefore excluded that he would

be protected from being expelled from Azerbaijan to Iraq. In any case,

he no longer had any connection with that country, as his wife and

children were no longer living there, having moved to Iraq due to

harassment. This latter information had been corroborated by the United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

On 6 April 1993 the National Immigration Board's decision was

upheld by the Aliens' Appeals Board (utlänningsnämnden), with the

exception that the applicant was to be expelled to Azerbaijan, if

unable to show that some other country would receive him. The Aliens'

Board considered that, irrespective of his family's whereabouts, the

applicant did not risk being expelled from that country to Iraq, as his

children were most likely still living in Azerbaijan and he would

therefore be granted a residence permit there. Moreover, he did not

risk being persecuted in that country.

On 24 May 1993 the police authority of Lund informed the National

Immigration Board that it was unable to enforce the applicant's

expulsion order in the absence of instructions to this effect. It

referred to information according to which the enforcement of

expulsions to the now independent republics of the Soviet Union was

extremely difficult from a practical point of view.

On 1 June 1993 the Supreme Administrative Court (regeringsrätten)

rejected the applicant's request for a re-opening of the case.

On 11 June 1993 a further request for a residence permit was

rejected by the National Immigration Board.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant originally complained that, if returned to

Azerbaijan, he would be immediately expelled to Iraq, where he would

be subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention in

view of his Kurdish origin and his activities in the Kurdish guerilla

movement. He referred, in particular, to a written statement by the

headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

according to which Azerbaijan could not be considered a safe country

and that, in the absence of proper regulations regarding refugees,

asylum seekers arriving in that country have no opportunity to request

asylum.

PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

The application was introduced on 15 July and registered on

22 July 1993. On 22 July 1993 the President decided, pursuant to Rule

36 of the Commission's Rules of Procedure, that it was desirable in the

interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings not

to return the applicant to Azerbaijan until the Commission had had an

opportunity to examine the application. The President further decided,

pursuant to Rule 34 para. 3 and Rule 48 para. 2 (b) of the Rules of

Procedure, to bring the application to the notice of the respondent

Government and to invite them to submit written observations on its

admissibility and merits.

The Government's observations were submitted on 12 August 1993.

They informed the Commission that the applicant had been granted a

permanent residence permit in Sweden. The applicant responded on 1

September 1993, stating, essentially, that he wished to withdraw the

case.

On 8 September 1993 the applicant was granted legal aid.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

Having regard to Article 30 para. 1 (a) of the Convention, the

Commission notes that the applicant does not intend to pursue his

petition. It also notes that the applicant has been granted a permanent

residence permit in Sweden and that, therefore, there are no special

circumstances regarding respect for Human Rights, as defined in the

Convention, which require the continuation of the examination of the

application.

For these reasons, the Commission unanimously

DECIDES TO STRIKE THE APPLICATION OFF ITS LIST OF CASES.

Deputy Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission

(M. de SALVIA) (C.A. NØRGAARD)

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