Published on 26 April 2021

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 7179/20 H.J. against Sweden lodged on 29 January 2020 communicated on 8 April 2021

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the removal of the applicant, an Iraqi national, to Iraq. He claimed that he was working as a journalist, and that due to the publication of a caricature in 2016 in the online magazine for which he had been writing some articles, he risked ill-treatment if returned. The Migration Agency and the migration courts refused the applicant ’ s asylum application, holding that there was no general risk for journalists, if returned to Baghdad, that would render an expulsion in violation of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. They considered that there was no indication in his articles that the applicant had been critical of the regime, no-one held him to be critical of the regime, and no-one in Iraq had any knowledge of him. Moreover, the applicant had applied for asylum approximately one year after the alleged threats towards him had appeared, and only when the decision to expel him had become enforceable, which was held to diminish the credibility of his claims. On 5 February 2020 the applicant ’ s request for an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court was refused by the Court.

The applicant complains under Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention that he would face a real risk of ill-treatment or death if returned to Iraq.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

In the light of the applicant ’ s claims and the documents which have been submitted, would he face a real risk of being subjected to treatment in breach of Articles 2 and/or 3 of the Convention if the deportation order were enforced? In particular, would he face such a risk on account of being a journalist upon return to Iraq?