Italy - Trieste Court, 14 January 2012, No. RG 479/2011
Keywords:
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Country of origin information
Description
"Information used by the Member States authorities to analyse the socio-political situation in countries of origin of applicants for international protection (and, where necessary, in countries through which they have transited) in the assessment, carried out on an individual basis, of an application for international protection.” It includes all relevant facts as they relate to the country of origin at the time of taking a decision on the application, obtained from various sources, including the laws and regulations of the country of origin and the manner in which they are applied, regulations of the country of origin, plus general public sources, such as reports from (inter)national organisations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, media, bi-lateral contacts in countries of origin, embassy reports, etc. This information is also used inter alia for taking decisions on other migration issues, e.g. on return, as well as by researchers. One of the stated aims of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is to progressively bring all activities related to practical cooperation on asylum under its roof, to include the collection of Country of Origin Information and a common approach to its use. |
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Personal circumstances of applicant
Description
The range of factors such as background, gender, age, and individual position which must to be taken into account in the assessment of an application for international protection per Article 4(3)(c) of the Qualification Directive. |
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Refugee Status
Description
The recognition by a Member State of a third-country national or stateless person as a refugee. |
Headnote:
A risk of persecution of a refugee can extend in time beyond the period during which the actual events took place that resulted in a flight in search of protection. The risk should be assessed taking into account all the evidence and documentation at the Applicant’s disposal.
Facts:
The Applicant, of Hutu origin, requested that the decision refusing international protection and recognition of humanitarian protection issued by the Territorial Commission in Gorizia be overturned, arguing that the decision had violated Article 1 of the Geneva Convention, Articles 2, 3 and 5 of Legislative Decree 251/2007, Directive 2005/83/EC and Article 3 of Law 241/1990, since all the requirements for granting refugee status had been met and there was a risk of persecution if he returned to Rwanda, his country of origin, because of his position in society and his ethnic background which were well known at the time of the genocide. These factors would continue to prejudice his security even after his final acquittal of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal, reached after seven years of preventive detention.
Decision & reasoning:
The Court stated that it did not agree with the Decision of the Territorial Commission in Gorizia. In this regard, the Court said that the deciding authority had underestimated the close relationship that existed between the personal situation of the Applicant and the political, social and legal situation in his country of origin. Indeed, the Court argued that the risk of persecution could only have increased following the final judgment from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which had revealed that the Applicant had been the victim of false accusations. Basing its analysis on the many documents submitted by the Applicant, the Court laid emphasis on the difficulties resulting from a hypothetical resettlement of persons acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal (which to date has not yet happened), from the outcry caused by the final acquittal, which was exacerbated by the social and political situation in Rwanda, where restrictions were being placed on the civil and political freedoms of the opposition, sharpening the ever-present ethnic conflict and including the introduction of a vaguely-worded crime of genocidal ideology that increases the risk of the Applicant being subjected to domestic proceedings for offences for which he has already been tried and acquitted.
Outcome:
Refugee status granted.
Relevant International and European Legislation:
Cited National Legislation:
| Cited National Legislation |
| Italy - Law 722/1954 |
| Italy - Legislative Decree No. 251/2007 |
| Italy - Law 241/1990 |
| Italy - Constitution - Art 10 |
| Italy - Legislative Decree 416/1989 |
Other sources:
ICTR’s challenges in the re location of acquitted persons, released prisoners and protected witnesses
ERSPS & ICTR Spokesperson, Arusha, 28 November 2008
Amnesty International, “Amnesty International 2010 Report”
Freedom House, “Countries at the Crossroads 2011: Rwanda”
Human Rights Watch, “Law and Reality. Progress in Judicial Reform in Rwanda”