M.T. v. France
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Refusal to grant asylum/ Risk of persecution based on sexual orientation
(Application No. 61145/16), 6 July 2017
Find Court’s communication here in French.
Find Court’s decision here in French.
- The applicant, gay asylum seeker from Cameroon, claimed he would face a real risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 because of his sexual orientation if he were deported back to Cameroon.
- Professor Robert Wintemute (School of Law, King’s College London) submitted the following on behalf of ILGA-Europe, FIDH, LDH and ECSOL :
- There is a strong consensus in European and other democratic societies supporting asylum claims by LGBTI persons. The assessment of the risk must take into account the likelihood that an openly LGBTI person would suffer treatment violating Article 2 or 3. An LGBTI person cannot be expected to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity in their country of origin to reduce the risk of treatment violating Article 2 or 3.
- Apart from any risk of violence, the Court should consider a real risk of imprisonment for private, consensual, adult, same-sex sexual activity (as in Cameroon) as a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment violating Article 3.
