CAT/C/56/D/545/2013 State party’s additional observations on admissibility and the merits 6.1 In its submission dated 22 April 2015, the State party provides further information on the complainant’s asylum proceedings. On 5 May 2011, the complainant presented an asylum application at the embassy of Switzerland in Yerevan. On 30 July 2011, the Federal Office for Migration determined that he should be allowed to enter Switzerland in order to pursue his application. On 19 September 2011, the complainant entered Switzerland and filed a formal asylum application. During proceedings before the Office, two oral hearings were held, on 29 September 2011 and 24 January 2012; the complainant was present at both. The complainant states that on 15 February 2014 he left Switzerland voluntarily because of his wife’s employment; he returned on 25 January 2015 and his wife began working at a clinic in the canton of Aargau. 6.2 The State party considers the communication to be inadmissible ratione materiae because the complainant is not at risk of being removed to another country. On the basis of his wife’s employment, the complainant obtained a short-stay L permit. This familyreunification permit allows the complainant to stay and seek employment in Switzerland until 23 January 2016. As such, article 3 of the Convention is not applicable. 6.3 The State party further considers the communication inadmissible because the complainant has failed to exhaust domestic remedies. He may apply for an extension of his L permit for a total period of up to two years, and may also appeal a decision denying the extension of his permit during that period. 6.4 The State party also considers that the communication is inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded and that it is without merit, because the complainant has not shown that he would face a real, foreseeable and personal risk of being subjected to torture if returned to Armenia. The State party acknowledges that the general human rights situation in Armenia raises certain concerns. Specifically, according to the concluding observations of the Committee on the third periodic report of Armenia1 and to reports of non-governmental organizations and the United States Department of State, 2 there are concerns that torture may be inflicted by State authorities on those held in custody in Armenia, and that torture victims may refrain from seeking redress due to a fear of reprisals. The State party notes, however, that the Federal Administrative Court stated in its decision that there was no situation of generalized violence in Armenia, and that there was no concrete indication that the complainant would be threatened if he returned there. The general human rights situation in Armenia is in and of itself insufficient to establish that the complainant would face a real, foreseeable and personal risk of harm if returned there. 6.5 The State party further considers that the complainant’s claims of having been pursued and tortured by NSS are implausible. The Federal Office for Migration found that, on several occasions, the complainant had provided imprecise details concerning the incidents during which he had been threatened or mistreated, and concerning the dates on which those incidents had occurred. In addition, the Office found that the medical reports presented by the complainant did not specify the causes of his condition, and that the confirmation letter signed by five Armenian nationals appeared to be a letter of convenience. The Federal Administrative Court found that the complainant was not credible, and that the medical treatment he had undergone was not the result of ill-treatment, as he alleged. Moreover, although the complainant argues that he was 1 2 6 The State party cites CAT/C/ARM/CO/3, paras. 8, 12, 14 and 16. The State party cites, inter alia, United States Department of State, “Country reports on human rights practices for 2013: Armenia”, p. 4 (available from www.state.gov/documents/organization/ 220461.pdf); and Human Rights Watch, World Report 2015, chapter on Armenia (available from www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/armenia).