CAT/C/46/D/369/2008 December 2008 for being an active member of CERDEC, contending that this is evidence that he would be subjected to torture if he was returned to the Republic of the Congo. 3.3 With regard to a return to Côte d’Ivoire, his most recent country of residence, the complainant contends that the Young Patriots considered him to be a supporter of Mr. Ouattara; given that the rule of law did not prevail, he would be in real danger without being assured of any effective protection. Moreover, in view of the cooperation between African countries, the complainant claims that he runs the risk of being handed over to the Congolese authorities, principally for having concealed from the Ivorian authorities the real reasons why he fled the Congo in 1999. State party’s observations on admissibility and on the merits 4.1 On 30 June 2009, the State party presented its observations on the admissibility and merits of the complaint. The State party maintains that in his communication of 14 December 2008, the complainant simply reiterates the reasons that he cited to the Swiss authorities and refers to the evidence produced in support of his asylum application. The State party contends that the additional documents submitted to the Committee by the complainant on 10 January 2009 contain no pertinent evidence or argument that would call into question the Federal Administrative Tribunal’s judgement of 24 November 2008. 4.2 The State party recalls the Committee’s case law and its general comment No. 1, which provide that the complainant must establish that he would be in personal, real and serious danger of being subjected to torture if deported to his country of origin. With regard to evidence of systematic, flagrant or gross human rights violations in the State concerned, the State party refers to the Federal Administrative Tribunal’s judgement of 24 November 2008 which held that after the civil wars had ended and a peace agreement had been signed between the Government of Sassou-Nguesso and the opposition militias, the situation in the country has calmed down considerably and a generalized state of civil war no longer prevails. Furthermore, the complainant is not from Pool, which is the most unstable region in the country, but from Nkayi. The State party also underscores that the complainant has at no time claimed to have been tortured or ill-treated in the past. 4.3 With regard to the complainant’s alleged political activities in the Congo, the State party maintains that the Swiss authorities found that the complainant’s statement lacked substance and that he had made a number of contradictory and inconsistent statements. At his first hearing in December 2003, the complainant claimed to have been the coordinator of the UPADS youth movement in Nkayi, whereas at his hearing on 10 February 2004 maintained that he had been president of the UPADS youth movement. Moreover, the complainant claimed to have left Nkayi in November 1998 because of the attacks by Sassou-Nguesso’s militias during that month, whereas the attacks had in fact begun only in December 1998.1 Furthermore, the claim dated 20 January 1996 that the Secretary-General of UPADS was an activist does not indicate when the complainant joined the party or that he was president or coordinator of a section. In addition, the State party emphasizes that the complainant did not provide any details of his alleged political activities or the dangers that they entailed. Moreover, the Federal Administrative Tribunal has found that members of UPADS, one of the largest legal opposition parties in the Congo, are not at present subject to reprisals.2 After the peace agreement, the National Assembly passed an amnesty law in 1 2 4 United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 – Congo-Brazzaville, 1 January 1999; Amnesty International, Republic of Congo: An old generation of leaders in new carnage, 25 March 1999. Amnesty International Report 2008, Congo, (Republic of); Human Rights Watch, Congo (Brazzaville); United States Department of State, 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – GE.11-43871