OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 49 “[The factors set out by the Supreme Court in Suresh] provide a ‘cautious framework’ for any analysis of the trustworthiness of assurances given by a foreign government. For instance, a government with a poor human rights record would normally require closer scrutiny of its record of compliance with assurances. A poor record of compliance may in turn require the imposition of additional conditions, such as monitoring mechanisms or other safeguards which may be strongly recommended by international human rights bodies. Conversely, a country with a good human rights record would often likely have a correspondingly good record of compliance, and therefore additional conditions may be unnecessary to enhance the reliability of assurances.” In relying on the assurances, the executive had failed to take into account the human rights record of the Egyptian Government as well as its record of compliance with assurances. This was particularly troubling in light of the extensive human rights reports on the poor human rights record of Egypt. The two diplomatic notes which contained the assurances made no mention of monitoring mechanisms, and contained no specific commitments not to abuse Mahjoub. There was nothing to suggest Canada had sought such a monitoring mechanism from Egypt. 3. Lai Cheong Sing 154. In Lai Cheong Sing v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 2007 FC 361, the applicants’ return to China was sought so they could stand trial for smuggling and bribery. A diplomatic note was provided in which China gave assurances they would not be sentenced to death or tortured. The Federal Court found that the executive decisionmaker had been entitled to rely on the assurance against the imposition of the death penalty as the Supreme People’s Court would ensure this would be respected. For the risk for torture, the decision-maker had recognised that assurances were in themselves an acknowledgement that there was a risk of torture in the receiving country but she had found these considerations were offset by the applicants’ notoriety, which would protect them. The court found that she had erred in doing so. First, she had failed to address the applicants’ argument that assurances should not be sought when torture was sufficiently systematic or widespread and, in particular, had failed to assess whether it was appropriate to rely on assurances at all from China. Second, the court found an assurance should at the very least fulfil some essential requirements to ensure that it was effective and meaningful. Unlike the death penalty, torture was practised behind closed doors and was denied by the States where it occurred. Even monitoring mechanisms had proved problematic since, for example, people who have suffered torture or other ill-treatment were often too fearful of retaliation to speak out. The decisionmaker therefore erred by failing to determine whether the assurances met the essential requirements to make them meaningful and reliable and by simply relying on the fact that the applicants’ notoriety would protect them.