46 OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT with little experience, questionable independence and virtually no power to hold the Government to account, it was able to ensure the safety of a person returned under the MOU. B. Complaints relating to Article 3 of UNCAT 147. As stated paragraph 127 above, Article 3 of UNCAT prevents refoulement where there are substantial grounds for believing that someone will be subjected to torture. In Agiza v. Sweden (communication no. 233/2003, decision of 20 May 2005), the complainant had been convicted in absentia by an Egyptian court in 1998 of terrorist activity. In 2000 he claimed asylum in Sweden. His claim was rejected and he was deported to Egypt in December 2001 where he alleged he was tortured. It appears from the decision of the Committee that, while the claim was being considered, Swedish Government officials met representatives of the Egyptian Government in Cairo and obtained guarantees from a senior official that the complainant would be treated in accordance with international law on return. 148. In examining his complaint under Article 3 of UNCAT, the Committee considered that the Swedish authorities knew, or ought to have known, of consistent and widespread use of torture of detainees in Egypt, particularly those detained for political or security reasons. Sweden was also aware that the complainant fell into this category and of the interest of foreign intelligence services in him. Swedish police officers had also acquiesced in ill-treatment by agents of an unspecified foreign State immediately before the complainant’s expulsion. These factors meant Sweden’s expulsion was in breach of Article 3. In the Committee’s view: “the procurement of diplomatic assurances, which, moreover, provided no mechanism for their enforcement, did not suffice to protect against this manifest risk.” 149. The Committee also found that Sweden was in breach of its procedural obligations under the same Article to provide an effective, independent and impartial review of the expulsion decision since it had been taken by the Swedish Government without recourse to the normal appeals process for asylum decisions. Sweden, by immediately removing the applicant after that decision, had also breached its obligations under Article 22 of the Convention to respect the effective right of individual communication with the Committee. 150. In Pelit v Azerbaijan, communication no. 281/2005 decision of 29 May 2007, the complainant was extradited from Azerbaijan to Turkey, despite the Committee’s interim measure indicating that it refrain from doing so until it had considered the case. It appears that, before surrender, Azerbaijan had obtained assurances against ill-treatment from Turkey and made some provisions for monitoring after surrender. The Committee found