Қайтарылу ісі: Швеция, Мысыр және АҚШ арасындағы құпия келісім

Repatriation

Ahmed Agiza (أحمد عجيزة) and Muhammad Alzery (محمد الزيري) (also Elzari, el Zary, etc.) were two Egyptian asylum seekers who were deported to Egypt from Sweden on December 18, 2001, apparently following a request from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The forced repatriation was criticized because of the danger of torture and ill treatment, and because the deportation decision was executed the same day without notifying the lawyers of the asylum seekers. The deportation was carried out by American and Egyptian personnel on Swedish ground, with Swedish servicemen apparently as passive onlookers. Sweden had negotiated guarantees from Egypt, however, there are allegations that both men were tortured, but Sweden has been unable to prove or disprove these allegations, due to refusal by Egyptian authorities to allow proper investigations. Alzery was released without charges after two years in prison, but was not allowed to leave his village, nor could he speak to foreigners. Agiza was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a military tribunal. Agiza told his story in a Swedish newspaper.

Human Rights Watch published a harsh criticism of both the deportation from Sweden and the trial in 2004 in Egypt of Ahmed Agiza. This organization had a representative present in all four sittings of the trial. The deportation only became widely known to the general public after the Swedish television network TV4 in its series Kalla fakta (Cold Facts) in May 2004 reported on the deportation under the heading "The broken promise", by the journalists, Sven Bergman, Fredrik Laurin, and Joachim Dyfvermark. After the publication, the Swedish government was dismissive in its responses to inquiries from members of the Swedish parliament. Criminal investigations was undertaken twice, but no crime was found. The Parliamentary Ombudsman examined the handling of the case after the decision had been made, and criticised harshly various aspects of the degrading treatment of the subjects at the airport. However, these investigations failed to question the decision itself, nor was the haste of its execution and the failure to inform the lawyers or allow time to have the decisions examined by international human rights bodies questioned. The Committee against Torture under the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found on May 24, 2004, that the Government of Sweden had violated its obligations under the Convention against Torture in the forced repatriation of Mr. Agiza. The United Nations' Human Rights Committee found that Sweden had "at least plausible grounds for considering, at the time, the case in question to present national security concerns." In consequence, the Committee did not find "a violation of article 13 of the Covenant for the failure to be allowed to submit reasons against his deportation and have the case reviewed by a competent authority".

On August 1, 2007, Agiza joined a civil suit filed under the United States' Alien Tort Statute, with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union. Agiza was joined with four other men, Bisher Al Rawi, Abou Elkassim Britel Binyam Mohamed, and Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah.

In March 2007, the Swedish government overturned the decision to repatriate Alzery. A short time before, an application for residence permit was denied on grounds that he was deported. In May 2007, the repatriation of Agiza was also overturned. In July 2008 and September 19, 2008, they were each awarded 3 million SEK ($380,000) in damages in a settlement with the Swedish ministry of justice. In November 2009, the Swedish government on appeal denied the renewed applications for residence in Sweden that had been submitted following the formal overturning of the repatriations in March 2007. In July 2012, the Swedish government granted Agiza a permanent residence permit.

In January 2009, it was claimed that the United States had threatened to impose trade barriers on the European Union if the two men were not transferred. Reporter Eva Franchell, friend of the deceased foreign minister Anna Lindh, witness to her murder, and at an earlier stage her press secretary, published a book about Lindh where she described the difficulties surrounding the repatriation decision, as well as the participation of other politicians who allegedly later conveniently shoved the responsibility over to the deceased Lindh.