CAT/C/60/D/681/2015 other detainees: a television cameraman, a translator and a driver from a foreign organization. The complainant and his father were reportedly interrogated and tortured for about five months. About a month after the initial detention, Mullah Gul Jan allegedly gave an order for the complainant’s father and the cameraman to be killed.5 The complainant witnessed the perpetrators decapitate the cameraman and then his own father. 6 After several more weeks of detention, the complainant was taken to the Taliban headquarters in Paktika Province. He managed to escape while he was being sent on a mission to Kabul by the Taliban.7 2.8 Following the significant physical and mental abuse and torture that he suffered when he was captured and detained by the Taliban in 2008, and when he witnessed the decapitation of his father and another detainee, the complainant feared for his life and safety. He submits that he could not get any protection from the Afghan authorities because they are infiltrated at all levels by the Taliban. He therefore decided to leave Afghanistan for Australia and did so in March 2010. The complainant submits that if he returned, he would not be able, as a failed asylum seeker, to get effective protection against the threats to life by non-State actors. In that regard, the complainant refers to a report by Amnesty International, dated 2011, which points to the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan and the real security risks faced by returnees.8 The complainant further refers to accounts by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of insecurity, political instability and economic and social problems, which are likely to continue and may increase following the departure of international security forces and transfer of responsibilities to Afghan counterparts. 9 Moreover, he points to the assessments by the Edmund Rice Centre of frequently fatal consequences, including threats and attacks against returned asylum seekers, which have been confirmed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. 10 The complainant argues that in the absence of adequate protection and reintegration support or assistance, the failed Afghan asylum seekers who are deported are at risk of facing serious negative consequences, including deterioration of their mental health and potentially severe mental health problems.11 2.9 The complainant claims that he has exhausted all available effective domestic remedies, and that the same matter has not been and is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. The complaint 3.1 The complainant claims that should he be forcibly returned to Afghanistan, he will be identified, persecuted and possibly killed upon return as an escapee from the Taliban, since he witnessed many of their activities and saw the faces of many of its members while he was detained by them. He alleges that such threats amount to torture. 3.2 In that regard, he claims that the Afghan authorities are unwilling or unable to protect him from persecution and torture, which he admits is essentially inflicted by nonState actors. He fears that he will face a substantial risk of torture and ill-treatment, similar to the beating and persecution he faced following his witnessing of the arrest of two suicide bombers outside his shop in July 2008 and the torture he suffered during his detention by the Taliban for several months, together with his father. The complainant also recalls that he witnessed the decapitation of his father and of another detainee. Owing to the serious 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 No further information has been provided on the identity of Mullah Gul Jan, although images of him are available from www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mullah+Gul+Jan&qpvt=Mullah+Gul+Jan&qpvt =Mullah+Gul+Jan&qpvt=Mullah+Gul+Jan&FORM=IGRE. No further information has been provided on the identity of the alleged perpetrators. No further information has been provided as to the purpose of the mission. The report is annexed to the initial complaint. See UNHCR eligibility guidelines for assessing the international protection needs of asylum seekers in Afghanistan (17 December 2010), annexed to the initial complaint. See, for example, www.erc.org.au/grave_dangers_faced_by_deportees_from_australia. The complainant refers to a letter, dated 9 March 2013, from members of the Afghan parliament to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade addressing those issues and the report of the Refugee Council of Australia, dated November 2012, in which concerns over the return of failed asylum seekers to Afghanistan were raised. 3