CEDH · CASELAW;DECISIONS;DECCOMMISSION;ENG — 12 mars 1998

.sDD6737AE { font-size:11pt } .s211D6B00 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; line-height:normal; widows:0; orphans:0; font-size:8.5pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial }                        Application No. 33180/96                       by Nabil SELMA                       against Sweden           The European Commission of Human Rights sitting in private on 12 March 1998, the following members being present:              MM     S. TRECHSEL, President                  J.-C. GEUS                  E. BUSUTTIL                  G. JÖRUNDSSON                  A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK                  A. WEITZEL                  J.-C. SOYER                  H. DANELIUS            Mrs    G.H. THUNE            MM     F. MARTINEZ                  C.L. ROZAKIS                  L. LOUCAIDES                  M.A. NOWICKI                  I. CABRAL BARRETO                  B. CONFORTI                  N. BRATZA                  I. BÉKÉS                  J. MUCHA                  D. SVÁBY                  G. RESS                  A. PERENIC                  C. BÎRSAN                  K. HERNDL                  E. BIELIUNAS                  E.A. ALKEMA                  M. VILA AMIGÓ            Mrs    M. HION            MM     R. NICOLINI                  A. ARABADJIEV              Mr     M. de SALVIA, 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 9 September 1996 by Nabil SELMA against Sweden and registered on 25 September 1996 under file No. 33180/96;     Having regard to the reports provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission;         Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government on 9 February 1998 and the applicant's reply of 23 February 1998;         Having deliberated;         Decides as follows:   THE FACTS         The applicant is an Algerian citizen, born in 1964 and currently resident at Helsingborg, Sweden. He is represented by Mr Olle Karlsson, a lawyer in Helsingborg.         The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.         While living in Algeria, the applicant left the Muslim fundamentalist movement "FIS" in 1984. As a result of his parents' professional activities, the mother's feminist and generally Western attitude and the stepfather's atheist beliefs the parents became opponents to the fundamentalists and were threatened and harassed by them. For security reasons, the parents left the country in the early 1990's together with their three further children. The applicant stayed behind. After refusing to participate in a strike at his work place he was eventually fired. In 1991 he went to Sweden on a short visit and met a woman who became his girlfriend. He returned to Algeria so as to request a residence permit in Sweden. He re-entered Sweden in July 1992, having been granted a six-month residence permit on account of the girlfriend. He did not return to Algeria after their relationship ended and his residence permit expired. He eventually married another Swedish woman and requested a new residence permit. In March 1995 the National Immigration Board (Statens invandrarverk) dismissed the applicant's request.         On 5 June 1996 the Aliens Appeals Board (Utlänningsnämnden) dismissed the applicant's appeal. It noted, in particular, that he had been staying illegally in Sweden from November 1992 to January 1995. In the Board's practice a family connection established during an illegal stay could normally not be considered a reason for granting a residence permit. He would therefore not necessarily have been granted a residence permit, even if he had lodged such a request abroad. The Aliens Appeals Board nevertheless quashed the two-year re-entry ban imposed on the applicant.         Subsequently the applicant lodged a fresh request with the Aliens Appeals Board, seeking a residence permit on humanitarian grounds. He referred, inter alia, to the serious concerns expressed by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in respect of the security situation in Algeria. On 20 November 1996 the Aliens Appeals Board suspended the enforcement of the expulsion order but, on 28 November 1997, it dismissed the applicant's request after having heard the Swedish Embassy in Algiers and concluding that the legitimate interests of the Swedish immigration authorities outweighed the interests of the applicant and his family.         On a further request lodged by the applicant the Aliens Appeals Board, on 28 January 1998, granted him a permanent residence permit and quashed the expulsion order.     COMPLAINTS   1.     The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that his expulsion to Algeria would subject him to a risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. His parents were allegedly forced to leave Algeria, since the police were unable to protect them against the fundamentalists. The applicant would also lack such protection, should he be returned there.   2.     The applicant also complained under Article 8 of the Convention that his expulsion would entail his separation from his Swedish family who, for security reasons, could not join him in Algeria. He was unable to obtain a new Algerian passport via the Algerian Embassy in Sweden. The issuing of a new passport in Algeria could take up to a year, if at all he were to be granted one.     PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION         The application was introduced on 9 September 1996 and registered on 25 September 1996.         On 13 September 1996 and 11 December 1997 the Commission decided not to indicate to the respondent Government, pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of Procedure, that it would be desirable in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings not to enforce the expulsion order concerning the applicant until the Commission had examined the application further.         On 11 December 1997 the Commission decided to communicate to the respondent Government the applicant's complaint concerning Article 8 of the Convention.         On 9 February 1998 the Government requested that the application be struck off the Commissions's list of cases in view of the decision to grant the applicant a permanent residence permit and to quash the expulsion order. On 23 February 1998 the applicant withdrew his application.     REASONS FOR THE DECISION         The applicant complained under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention that his expulsion to Algeria would subject him to a risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment and separate him from his Swedish family who, for security reasons, could not join him in Algeria.         In their observations of 9 February 1998 the respondent Government referred to the Aliens Appeals Board's decision to grant the applicant a permanent residence permit and to quash the expulsion order. In the light of that decision the application could, in the Government's opinion, be struck off the Commission's list of cases.         In his observations of 23 February 1998 the applicant withdrew his application.         The Commission notes that the applicant has now been granted a permanent residence permit in Sweden. In these circumstances the Commission considers that the Convention issues underlying the application has been resolved within the meaning of Article 30 para. 1 (b) of the Convention. Moreover, the Commission finds no reasons of a general character affecting the respect for Human Rights, as defined in the Convention, which require the further examination of the application by virtue of Article 30 para. 1 in fine of the Convention.         For these reasons, the Commission, unanimously,         DECIDES TO STRIKE THE APPLICATION OUT OF ITS LIST OF CASES.             M. de SALVIA                         S. TRECHSEL          Secretary                            President       to the Commission                    of the Commission