Swiss authorities failed to assess risks for gay man's return to the Gambia

T. Turner-Tretz, D. Lambert, I. Ertekin

Press release of the case B and C v. Switzerland, concerned a homosexual couple, one of whom risked being returned to the Gambia following the rejection of his partner's application for family reunification. He alleged he was at risk of ill-treatment if returned. In Chamber judgment in the case the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there would be: a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights if the first applicant were deported to the Gambia on the basis of the domestic decisions in his case. The Court considered that criminalisation of homosexual acts was not sufficient to render return contrary to the Convention.