CAT/C/53/D/458/2011 4.3 Concerning its national legislation, the State party notes that, pursuant to section 7, paragraph 1, of the Aliens Act, a residence permit can be granted to an alien if the person falls within the provisions of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. For this purpose, article 1.A of that Convention has been incorporated into Danish law. Although that article does not mention torture as one of the grounds justifying asylum, it may be an element of persecution. Accordingly, a residence permit can be granted in cases where it is found that the asylum seeker has been subjected to torture before coming to the State party, and where the substantial fear resulting from the outrages is considered well founded. The permit is granted even if a possible return is not considered to entail any risk of further persecution. Likewise, pursuant to section 7, paragraph 2, of the Aliens Act, a residence permit can be issued to an alien upon application if the alien risks the death penalty or being subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in case of return to his country of origin. In practice, the Refugee Appeals Board considers that these conditions are met if there are specific and individual factors rendering it probable that the person will be exposed to a real risk. 4.4 The State party further submits that decisions of the Refugee Appeals Board are made on the basis of an individual and specific assessment of the case. The asylum seeker’s statements regarding asylum motive are assessed in the light of all relevant evidence, including general background material on the situation and conditions in the country of origin, in particular whether systematic gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights occur. Background material is obtained from various sources, including country reports prepared by other Governments as well as information available from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and prominent non-governmental organizations. 4.5 In cases where torture is invoked as part of the basis for asylum, the Refugee Appeals Board may request the asylum seeker to be examined for signs of torture. The decision as to whether it is necessary to undertake a medical examination is made at a Board hearing and depends on the circumstances of the specific case, such as the credibility of the asylum seeker’s statement about torture. 4.6 The State party submits that, in the present case, the Refugee Appeals Board conducted a comprehensive and thorough examination of the evidence of the case and found it not to be substantiated that the complainant would be personally at risk of being subjected to torture if returned to Ethiopia. In particular, the complainant had had no problems with Ethiopian authorities since her alleged imprisonment three or four years before her departure from Ethiopia, and her Oromo ethnicity did not as such expose her to a specific risk of persecution by State agents. 4.7 The State party claims that the complainant’s allegations of torture are subject to considerable doubt for several reasons. According to her statement to the police on 1 September 2007, the complainant paid $2,000 to an agent to flee the country. Her motive for asylum was the conditions in Ethiopia. In her claim to the Danish Immigration Service, the complainant stated that she was afraid that, if returned to Ethiopia, she would be arrested by the authorities because of her Oromo origin. She was also afraid that her mother would become angry and send her abroad again. There was no mention by the complainant of helping her father in his political activities, being detained, questioned or subjected to torture in either the police report of 1 September 2007 or the asylum registration reports of 7 and 13 September 2007, or during the interview with the Danish Immigration Service on 14 March 2008. The complainant first mentioned that she had helped her father in connection to his political work after two meetings with the assigned counsel before the Refugee Appeals Board hearing on 17 October 2008, after the Immigration Service had 5