Chechen woman sexually assaulted by the authorities

Concerning Mrs. A.R.I. vs. Denmark for violation of article 2 (c) – (f) and article 5 (a) of CEDAW. The author had been studying medicine for almost a year when the armed conflict broke out in Chechnya. The author was not a member of any political or religious organizations and had not sympathized with the Chechen rebel movement. However, her cousin was a member of the movement. In June 2014 she was arrested and detained. In detention, she was interrogated, kicked and pushed and was verbally and sexually assaulted. After three days, she was released, and after spending about two months in hiding she fled to Denmark in 2014. Her asylum case got rejected by The Immigration Service and the Refugee Appeals Board, both finding her story to be untrustworthy. The Committee considers that nothing on file leads it to conclude that the State party have failed in their duty to properly assess the risks that the author would face if deported to the Russian Federation. The Committee therefore declare the communication inadmissible.

2. July 2023

CEDAW 96/2015
  • Decision: 25 February 2019
  • Comm: Gender