CERD/C/112/D/74/2021 they collected and varied between 20 and 50 Swiss francs a month. The petitioners and their children had no fixed address in North Macedonia and moved from one town to another or from place to place within the same town. However, they lived in the town of Kocani for a relatively long time until they left for Switzerland in 2017.2 In Kocani, they lived from time to time in a rented house or, when they could not afford the rent, on the street under a plastic tent. 2.2 In North Macedonia, the petitioners tried several times to benefit from public social assistance, which was denied to them. The country’s authorities considered the income they received from recycling garbage as regular income. To protest this situation, U.I. took part in a demonstration on 25 January 2016. He has been a member of the Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia, an opposition party, since 2008. He was active during the 2016 election campaign. On 25 December 2016, he was involved in a violent clash over election results between supporters of the Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia and the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity. During the confrontation, many people were injured. The police opened a criminal investigation into the incident, which also involved M.M., a senior figure within the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity. Two or three days later, U.I. was questioned at a police station in connection with the incident. He complained about the actions of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity supporters and asked for help from the police, who instead forcibly removed him from the premises. 2.3 After the confrontation on 25 December 2016, U.I. repeatedly received threatening telephone calls from a masked number. His unidentified interlocutors reproached him for his support of the Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia. In January 2017, he was visited by several members of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity. 3 They threatened to kill him if he did not testify on M.M’s behalf. 2.4 In February 2017, U.I. went to a post office to pick up a summons to appear in court4 on 6 March 2017 as a witness in the criminal case against M.M.. On his return from the post office, U.I. was accosted by five individuals, presumably associates of M.M.. These people again threatened to kill him if he did not testify to exonerate M.M.. Because U.I. refused, his assailants tried to strangle him. Immediately after this incident, U.I. went to the Kocani central police station to lodge a complaint against his assailants. However, the police officers present refused to register his complaint. They told him that, as a Roma person, he was a “part of the land”. Following this incident, U.I. hid in a forest in the nearby mountains. He spent the night in a sleeping bag and, during the day, roamed the neighbouring villages begging for food and money. He rarely visited his family. 2.5 In the meantime, G.I. was repeatedly visited by masked men − probably supporters of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity and associates of M.M. − who, sometimes in the presence of her children, threatened, insulted and beat her because she would not reveal her husband’s whereabouts. 2.6 On 22 February 2017, between 5 and 10 masked individuals again broke into the petitioners’ home. They applied a cloth soaked in an unidentified liquid to G.I.’s mouth and nose, which caused her to faint. When she woke up the next day, she found herself lying in a forest with her children, her body covered in bruises and her clothes torn. She later realized that she had been raped by her captors. 2.7 Having returned to Kocani, G.I. did not seek medical help, as she was traumatized by her rape. She attempted suicide several times, in North Macedonia and in Switzerland. She tried to hurt herself as much as possible, including by cutting her wrists with a knife, hitting 2 3 4 2 In its comments, the State party indicates that the present case concerns the petitioners’ third application for asylum. U.I. first applied for asylum in Switzerland on 25 February 2010. He subsequently withdrew his application. On 6 February 2011, the petitioners filed a new joint application for asylum. On 19 June 2013, their asylum application was rejected. On 21 August 2013, the petitioners returned to their country of origin with the help of Switzerland, accompanied by their two children born in the meantime. U.I. recognized these individuals as members of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity because they were wearing the party’s colours. The petitioners did not specify which court. GE.24-07887