CAT/C/56/D/586/2014
subject to appeal to the Migration Court and the Migration Court of Appeal. Moreover,
arrangements for the enforcement of an expulsion order may take a long time. It is hence of
the utmost importance that the Committee consider the admissibility and/or the merits of
the present communication well before that date in order to leave enough time for such
arrangements should the Committee’s examination lead to a finding that the communication
is inadmissible or that it reveals no violation of the Convention.
4.4
The State party submits that the complainants essentially claim before the
Committee that the first complainant was arrested and tortured in 2007 by the Chechen
authorities and accused of being involved in the killing of several police officers.
Furthermore, in 2011, he was falsely accused of having been involved in a number of
explosions in Grozny in August of that year and accused of possession of illegal firearms
and explosives. The second complainant claims that she has been accused of being an
accomplice to the first complainant’s activities. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth
complainants essentially claim the same grounds for asylum as their parents. The
complainants claim that their lives would be in danger if they were returned to the Russian
Federation. They have thus alleged that expelling them to the Russian Federation would
constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention.
4.5
The State party submits that it is not aware of any information indicating that the
present matter is or has been the subject of any other procedure of investigation or
settlement. It expects the Committee to confirm the above in the course of its examination
of the admissibility of the communication.
4.6
The State party does not contest the claim that all available domestic remedies have
been exhausted in the present case.
4.7
The State party maintains that the complainants’ assertion that they are at risk of
being treated in a manner that would amount to a breach of article 3 of the Convention if
returned to the Russian Federation fails to rise to the minimum level of substantiation
required for purposes of admissibility. The State party accordingly submits that the
communication is manifestly unfounded and thus inadmissible pursuant to article 22 (2) of
the Convention and rule 113 (b) of the Committee’s rules of procedure.2 General reference
is made in this context to what is stated below on the merits.
4.8
The State party submits that, should the Committee conclude that the
communication is admissible, the issue before the Committee is whether the forced return
of the complainants to the Russian Federation would violate the obligation of Sweden under
article 3 of the Convention not to expel or return a person to another State where there are
substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to
torture. When determining whether the forced return of a person to another State would
constitute a violation of article 3, the Committee must take into account all relevant
considerations, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights in that country. However, as the Committee has repeatedly
emphasized, the aim of such a determination is to establish whether the individual
concerned would be personally at risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which
he or she would be returned. It follows that the existence of a consistent pattern of gross,
flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute
sufficient grounds for determining that a particular person would be in danger of being
subjected to torture upon his or her return to that country. For a violation of article 3 to be
2
The State party refers to, inter alia, communication No. 216/2002, H.I.A. v. Sweden, decision of
inadmissibility adopted on 2 May 2003, para. 6.2.
5