Switzerland violated the prohibition on inhuman treatment by considering that a gay Iranian could be returned to his country.

Summary

The European Court of Human Rights determined that Switzerland violated the ban on inhuman treatment by refusing asylum to a gay Iranian man.

The man claimed abuse from his family due to his sexual orientation and sought asylum in Switzerland in 2019. His application was rejected by the State Secretariat for Migration, which deemed his account unreliable, a decision later upheld by the Federal Administrative Court.

The court ruled that returning him to Iran would risk exposing him to inhumane treatment from his family, others, and the Iranian government.

Switzerland was ordered to pay him €7,000 in compensation.