CAT/C/54/D/540/2013 with shrapnel in his arm and chest. According to the State party, the complainant has never claimed that these psychological and physical problems are the result of acts of torture committed in Turkey. The medical reports that he has submitted state that these problems stem from events experienced during the war. The reports do not mention signs, such as injuries, that would be relevant under article 3 of the Convention. According to the medical report of 13 October 2009, 9 the complainant’s nightmares and other psychological problems started in 2004, when the Americans entered Iraq, and later worsened when he was in Switzerland. Those events, which occurred in a third country, are not relevant to assessing the risk of torture if he is returned to Turkey. There is no indication that the complainant has been tortured in Turkey in the past. 4.4 With regard to the complainant’s political activities, the State party refers to his claim that he joined the armed struggle of the PKK at age 11 and was involved in fighting between 1993 and 1996, before being transferred to the Mahmur camp in Iraq, where he continued to provide material and logistical support to the PKK. At the end of 2004, he was allegedly detained by the American army and, after a period of military training in Mosul, took part in fighting with the American army. The complainant does not claim to have provided support to the PKK since his arrival in Switzerland in 2005. 4.5 The complainant’s political activity within the PKK in Turkey dates to the distant past. He allegedly engaged in fighting more than 15 years ago, when he was still a child (between the ages of 11 and 14). Moreover, he had only minor involvement and that was only between 1993 and 1996. The complainant has failed to demonstrate the relevance of these facts to his current situation and their relation to the Turkish authorities’ current interest in him for activities that happened so long ago and were so minimal. This is corroborated by the fact that no judicial proceedings are under way against the complainant and there is no indication that he might be arrested or tortured in the event of his return. 4.6 As to his activities within the PKK, the complainant i nitially stated that he had never received military training or engaged in fighting, but had only performed various chores at the camp. 10 He subsequently retracted those claims and stated that he had received military training from the PKK, had taken part i n the armed struggle and had been involved in fighting between 1993 and 1996. This retraction was not deemed by the Federal Administrative Tribunal to be credible, particularly in the light of testimony that corroborated the complainant’s original statemen ts, indicating that he was “reserved” and had not taken part in fighting. The factual inconsistencies between the complainant’s allegations and the testimony given are such that it is implausible that the complainant’s involvement with the PKK could expose him to persecution by the Turkish authorities. 4.7 According to the State party, the photographs submitted by the complainant are irrelevant. In the ones that allegedly show him as a PKK combatant, it cannot be determined what activity is being engaged in by the persons pictured, while in the photographs of soldiers serving with the American army in Iraq, which are related to neither the PKK nor Turkey, it cannot be ascertained who is pictured or when and where the photographs were taken. 4.8 The State party reiterates that no judicial proceedings are under way against the complainant and that the statement from the mayor of Yardere to the effect that the __________________ 9 10 6/10 See para. 2.3 of the present decision. Deposition of 27 September 2005, attached to the case file. See para. 2.8 of the present decision. GE.15-11115

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