23579/94

 AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF Application No. 23579/94 by A.CH. against Switzerland The European Commission of Human Rights sitting in private on 11 March 1994, the following members being present: MM. C.A. NØRGAARD, President S. TRECHSEL A. WEITZEL E. BUSUTTIL G. JÖRUNDSSON A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK J.-C. SOYER H.G. SCHERMERS H. DANELIUS 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 I. BÉKÉS J. MUCHA E. KONSTANTINOV D. SVÁBY 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 21 February 1994 by A. CH. against Switzerland and registered on 4 March 1994 under file No. 23579/94; 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 facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows: The applicant, a Moroccan citizen born in 1964, resides at Sion in Switzerland. The applicant's previous application No. 21134/93, not relating to the present application, was declared inadmissible as being manifestly ill-founded by the Commission on 13 January 1994. I. In 1985, while in Morocco, the applicant joined the clandestine extremist leftist student movement Ilal Amam. He knew approximately ten members of this movement and participated in various meetings. On 6 January 1988 the applicant was arrested and detained by the police for 24 hours for having been seen in a public place with a girl after a certain hour, which was an offence under Islamic law. However, the detention apparently served the purpose of questioning the applicant about his political opinions. He was released upon intervention of a policeman, the father of a friend of his. From March to June 1989 the applicant participated in numerous student demonstrations in Meknès. He organised one such demonstration in March 1989. Between 27 May and 2 June 1989 certain students boycotted the university examinations in order to protest against the dictatorship in Morocco. As a result, security forces intervened at the university and arrested numerous students. Later in June the authorities declared that they would not undertake any further arrests during the period of university examinations. However, the applicant was told by a friend that the police were searching for him and he stayed with his brother until the end of June when he attended the examinations. He then decided to leave the country for fear of being arrested. On 31 August he travelled from Morocco to Spain with his valid passport. II. On 2 September 1989 the applicant entered Switzerland where he applied for asylum on 12 September 1989. On 12 May 1992 the Federal Office for Refugees (Office fédéral des réfugiés) refused the applicant's request for asylum as he had failed to show that he had been politically active in Morocco. The Office considered that the applicant had not convincingly presented the developments at the university in 1989, in particular the student demonstrations and the role he had played in them. The fact that the applicant had participated in the examinations at the end of June 1989 contradicted his statement that he feared arrest. Moreover, the applicant had left Morocco using the normal itinerary. The applicant filed an appeal which the Swiss Appeals Commission in Matters of Asylum (Commission suisse de recours en matière d'asile) dismissed on 11 January 1994. The Commission found that in his appeal the applicant had merely reiterated his earlier arguments, and no temporal link had been established between his alleged persecution in January 1988 and his departure from Morocco in August 1989. It was also unlikely that participation in student demonstrations should be a ground for persecution as the applicant himself had stated that he had not suffered any prejudice after organising one such demonstration in March 1989. The applicant has been ordered to leave Switzerland before 30 April 1994. COMPLAINTS The applicant complains of his imminent expulsion to Morocco where he risks being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. THE LAW The applicant complains that if he is expelled to Morocco he risks ill-treatment contrary to Article 3 (Art. 3) of the Convention. The Commission has constantly held that the right of an alien to reside in a particular country is not as such guaranteed by the Convention. However, expulsion may in exceptional circumstances involve a violation of the Convention, for example where there is a serious and well-founded fear of treatment contrary to Article 3 (Art. 3) of the Convention in the country to which the person is to be expelled (see. No. 10564/83, Dec. 10.12.84, D.R. 40 p. 262; mutatis mutandis European Court H.R., Soering judgment of 7 July 1989, Series A No. 161, p. 32 et seq., paras. 81 et seq.). Insofar as the applicant relies in support of his submissions on various press articles relating to the general political situation in Morocco, the Commission further recalls that the mere possibility of ill- treatment on account of the unsettled general situation in a country is in itself insufficient to give rise to a breach of Article 3 (Art. 3) of the Convention (see Eur. Court H.R., Vilvarajah and others judgment of 30 October 1991, Series A No. 215, p. 37, para. 111). The applicant has not provided any other document or evidence confirming his allegations as to inhuman treatment in Morocco. The Commission has therefore had regard to the decisions of the Swiss authorities, in particular those of the Federal Office for Refugees of 12 May 1992 and of the Swiss Appeals Commission in Matters of Asylum of 11 January 1994. The Commission notes that the Swiss authorities carefully examined the applicant's allegations. Thus, in its decision of 12 May 1992 the Federal Office for Refugees considered that the fact that the applicant had participated in the examinations in June 1989 contradicted his statement that he feared arrest. The Swiss Appeals Commission in Matters of Asylum considered in its decision of 11 January 1994 that there had been no temporal link between the applicant's alleged persecution in January 1988 and his departure from Morocco in August 1989, and noted that the applicant himself had stated that he had not suffered any prejudice after organising a demonstration in March 1989. The Commission does not find it unreasonable if the Swiss authorities, in view of these considerations and other contradictions in the applicant's submissions, concluded that he had not credibly established that he had been persecuted on the grounds of his political convictions. As a result, the applicant has failed to show that upon his return to Morocco he would face a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 (Art. 3) of the Convention. The application is therefore manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 27 para. 2 (Art. 27-2) of the Convention. For these reasons the Commission unanimously DECLARES THE APPLICATION INADMISSIBLE. Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission (H.C. KRÜGER) (C.A. NØRGAARD)