4.12 In conclusion, the State party points out that the Board did not
necessarily deny that in connection with demonstrations the author might
have been detained as explained, but the detentions themselves were not a
sufficient ground for granting asylum. This would still be the case even if
the author had in fact been subjected to physical ill-treatment in connection
with these detentions. The State party argues that it also follows from the
practice of the Committee that a risk of being detained is not as such
sufficient to trigger the protection of article 3 of the Convention and that
there is no actual evidence, including medical evidence, supporting the
author's claim that she has previously been subjected to torture.
4.13 Finally, the State party notes that Ecuador has not only signed the
Convention against Torture but also, by a declaration of 6 September 1988,
recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider
individual communications pursuant to article 22. The State party is aware
that the Committee has stated that the fact that a State has acceded to the
Convention and recognized the competence of the Committee under article
22 is not in itself sufficient to preclude a return to that country being
contrary to article 3, but importance should nevertheless be given thereto.
Comments by the representative of the author
5.1 In his comments on the State party's submission, the representative of
the author refers to the State party's position that the author has the
responsibility of presenting "an arguable case" that she would be in danger
of being subjected to torture upon return to her home country. According to
the representative, an arguable case has indeed been presented in the light of
the author's previous experiences of persecution, including torture, and
owing to her political activities for poor Indian women in Ecuador. Further,
the representative points out that, according to the practice of the
Committee, it is note necessary that the risk of torture be serious, in the
sense of being highly likely to occur; the Committee has previously clearly
stated that there need only be "more than a mere possibility of torture".
5.2 The representative considers that the State party's argumentation that
PRE, contrary to what has been stated by the author, is a legal party and that
its leader was President in 1996, is irrelevant to the main question under
consideration, i.e. whether the author runs a risk of being subjected to
torture upon return to Ecuador. The argument of the State party is based on
opinion and misunderstandings rather than fact.
5.3 The representative argues that more importance should be attached to
the two existing letters from the PRE local leadership describing the danger
run by the author if she returned to Ecuador in view of her having been the
party's leading promoter for women's rights. The Committee's attention is