CAT/C/70/D/915/2019
6.9
The complainant adds that his spouse received Instagram messages on 23 February
2019 threatening “consequences” if the complainant were to fail to return to the Russian
Federation. The threats, including physical assault and disappearance of the complainant,
continued thereafter. On 11 October 2019, the Georgian National Bureau of Enforcement
recorded a statement by the spouse regarding the threats received.
6.10 The complainant requested that the Georgian authorities conduct an investigation into
the threats and, on 13 March 2017, that the Russian authorities do the same. The Russian
authorities rejected his request as unsubstantiated without having carried out any
investigations on 17 March 2019. The Georgian authorities initiated an investigation, but the
complainant does not believe that they carried it out seriously, despite jurisprudence
establishing that a claim of a risk of torture requires an independent and rigorous scrutiny.
Likewise, the examination of his asylum claim has not been rigorous. His claim was wrongly
rejected as based on “mere suppositions” even though the documents produced duly
substantiate the risk. The Georgian courts turned a blind eye to the human rights situation in
the Russian Federation and did not carefully study the documents produced. In the extradition
case, the Supreme Court limited its analysis to the assurances provided by the Russian
authorities. Furthermore, it would be impossible and disproportionate to require undisputable
evidence of a future event.
6.11 On 26 February 2020, the complainant reported that the Tbilisi Court of Appeal had
rendered a final decision rejecting his appeal in the asylum proceedings that same day,
enabling his immediate removal.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
7.1
Before considering any claim contained in a complaint, the Committee must decide
whether it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. The Committee has ascertained,
as it is required to do under article 22 (5) (a) of the Convention, that the same matter has not
been and is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or
settlement.
7.2
The Committee notes that the Tbilisi Supreme Court rendered a final decision
rejecting the complainant’s appeal in the asylum proceedings on 26 February 2020. It is
therefore satisfied that the complainant has exhausted all available domestic remedies, for
the purposes of article 22 (4) (b) of the Convention.
7.3
The Committee notes that the State party argues that the complaint is inadmissible as
manifestly unfounded under article 22 (2) of the Convention and rule 113 (b) of the rules of
procedure. The State party claims that the complaint does not go beyond speculation, farfetched assumptions and meritless generalizations. It also claims that its authorities carefully
examined the complainant’s personal circumstances and the general human rights situation
in the Russian Federation, that they found his account to be inconsistent and incoherent on
material points and that they concluded that his claim of a risk of persecution or ill-treatment
lacked substance. The Committee observes that the complainant only submitted copies of
alleged evidence after the State party had observed that the claims were not supported by any
documentation or evidence even though the complainant was a former prosecutor. The
Committee notes, in this regard, that the complainant has not refuted his inability during the
asylum hearing to name the authors of the threats or to describe their motives or the contents
of the threats. Despite the complainant’s assertion that the State party’s authorities failed to
assess the alleged risk of treatment contrary to article 3 of the Convention owing to prison
conditions in the Russian Federation, the Committee notes that the authorities considered
these circumstances in both the asylum and the extradition proceedings and found no ground
to grant asylum or to deny the extradition request. Further, the complainant’s arguments on
the State party’s observations concerning the assurances provided by the Russian authorities
contain no indication of a personal risk of treatment contrary to article 3 of the Convention.
The Committee moreover finds that the complainant’s assertions that the examination of his
case was not serious or that he had no possibility for review of the expulsion decision lack
substantiation.
8