CAT/C/57/D/529/2012 the purpose of section 97 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Section 97 mandates the protection of persons who, on removal to their countries of origin, would face a risk to their life, a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment or a real risk of torture within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention against Torture. Generally speaking, a “protected person” has the statutory right, under section 115 of the Act, not to be removed from Canada. This statutory principle of non-refoulement is in addition to the protection of life, liberty and security of all persons in the State party that is guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4.10 The Refugee Protection Division conducts an oral hearing that is usually held privately in an informal and non-adversarial manner. Officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees may observe the proceedings. Individuals seeking protection as a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection are usually assisted by legal counsel and an interpreter and are provided with every opportunity to establish, through oral testimony and supporting documentary evidence, that he or she is a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. The officers of the Division receive comprehensive, ongoing training on the Refugee Convention and other aspects of the State party’s international legal obligations. They are well-informed and develop expertise in relation to conditions and events in countries of alleged persecution or other human rights violations and have access to the Immigration and Refugee Board’s internationally recognized research programme. A Refugee Protection Officer assists the officers of the Division by ensuring that they have all the relevant documentation. The Division draws its conclusions based on the evidence adduced during the oral hearing and all available relevant documentation provided to it. All of its decisions are communicated in writing and the reasons for negative decisions are also provided in writing. 4.11 The complainant was represented by legal counsel at the Refugee Protection Division hearing. She provided an oral testimony and had the opportunity to explain any ambiguities or inconsistencies and to respond to questions that the Board may have had with regard to her claims. In support of her claim, she submitted an extensive package of written documentation, including court documents relating to the land dispute between the complainant and her husband’s relative, B.; two first information reports filed by or on behalf of her and/or her husband with the police in Pakistan after alleged assaults by B. (dated 14 December 1999 and 25 September 2001); one first information report filed by or on behalf of B., accusing the complainant of adultery (dated 25 November 2006); two hospital reports, one for the complainant (dated 30 October 2002) and the other for her husband (dated 25 September 2001); and a package of general documentary information on the situation of women and the phenomenon of honour killing in Pakistan. 4.12 By decision rendered orally on the day of the hearing (24 November 2009), the Refugee Protection Division determined that the complainant was not a Convention refugee within the meaning of section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and article 1 of the Refugee Convention. It also determined that the complainant was not a person in need of protection within the meaning of section 97 of the Act, that is, inter alia, that she was not a person whose removal to her country of nationality would subject her personally to “a danger, believed on substantial grounds to exist, of torture within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention against Torture”.6 The Refugee Protection Division issued its written decision on 15 January 2010. It identified three separate risks that the complainant had claimed she would face upon return to Pakistan: (a) a risk from the police as a result of 6 6 (iv) the risk is not caused by the inability of that country to provide adequate health or medical care.” See Canada, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, sect. 97 (1) (a).