ECtHR: Switzerland ‘wrongly exposed Tamil asylum seeker to torture’

Switzerland violated its commitment to protect people from torture by denying a former Tamil fighter asylum and instead sending him, and his family, back to Sri Lanka in 2013, according to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The verdict, delivered on Thursday, condemned the Swiss authorities for failing to properly consider the man’s asylum application lodged in 2009. After an unsuccessful appeal to the Federal Administrative Court he was returned to Sri Lanka along with his wife and two children. On arrival in Colombo, the family was detained and subjected to 13 hours of questioning, the Strasbourg court heard. The man was then arrested and imprisoned, but was able to escape captivity after two years. Switzerland’s actions violated article three of the European Convention on Human Rights, ruled the ECHR. The man was one of two Sri Lankans known to have been tortured after being sent back home by Switzerland in 2013. As a result, Switzerland suspended a ...


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