CAT/C/31/D/213/2002 Page 8 7.1 Before considering any claims contained in a complaint, the Committee against Torture must decide whether or not it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. In this respect, the Committee has ascertained, as it is required to under article 22, paragraph 5 (a), of the Convention, that the same matter has not been and is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. The Committee also notes that the State party acknowledges that domestic remedies have been exhausted. 7.2 As regards the complainant’s additional submission of 23 September 2003, the Committee notes that this submission was lodged after the end of the six-week deadline, stipulated in the Committee’s letter of 21 October 2001, in accordance with rule 91, paragraph 6, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, in which the complainant was invited to submit his comments on the State party’s observations on admissibility and merits of the complaint by 29 November 2002. The Committee thus considers that the fresh arguments raised in the complainant’s additional submission of 23 September 2003 were lodged out of time and cannot therefore be considered by the Committee. 7.3 The Committee sees no further obstacles to the admissibility of the complaint and therefore proceeds to a consideration of the merits. 8.1 The Committee has considered the complaint in the light of all information made available to it by the parties, in accordance with article 22, paragraph 4, of the Convention. 8.2 The Committee must decide whether the deportation of the complainant to Costa Rica would violate the State party’s obligation under article 3 of the Convention not to expel or return an individual to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 8.3 The Committee must assess whether there are grounds to believe that the complainant would be personally in danger of being subjected to torture on returning to Costa Rica. In weighing up this risk the Committee must take into account all relevant considerations in accordance with article 3, paragraph 2, of the Convention, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights. The Committee recalls, however, that the aim is to determine whether the individual concerned would personally risk torture in the country to which he or she would return. It follows that the existence of a consistent matter of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute sufficient grounds for determining whether the particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon his return to that country; additional grounds must be adduced to show that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. Conversely, the absence of a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights does not mean that a person may not be considered to be in danger of being subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances. 8.4 In the present case, the Committee takes note of the State party’s observations on the general situation of human rights in Costa Rica and of the fact that Costa Rica has made a declaration under article 22 of the Convention. It further takes note of reports which indicate an improvement in the situation of peasants involved in land disputes. The Committee observes that the information contributed by the complainant to rebut this opinion comes mainly from his own writings.