CAT/C/59/D/686/2015 submits that he has been tortured and intimidated as a result of his complaints to the authorities. State party’s observations on admissibility 4.1 On 17 August 2015, the State party contested the admissibility of the complaint on the grounds of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. The State party further indicated that the complainant has not proved the risks he may suffer if deported to Turkey. 4.2 The State party challenges the claim that the complainant exhausted all domestic remedies regarding the various acts of torture and ill-treatment alleged by the complainant. It refers to the legal framework related to torture and indicates that even if torture is not included in the Criminal Code it is covered by other crimes and that the competent authorities are obliged to independently and impartially investigate any complaints against law enforcement officers and prison staff. 4.3 In relation to the complainant’s allegations that he was the victim of torture and illtreatment during the criminal proceedings, the State party asserts that the allegations were examined by the Court of Assizes of Ticino and by the Appeals Court of Ticino during the criminal proceedings resulting in the conviction of the complainant to six years of imprisonment. The State party indicates that the complainant has not exhausted all available domestic remedies, as he did not appeal the decision of the Appeals Court of Ticino of 30 September 2010 to the Federal Tribunal.5 Furthermore, it points out that, as indicated by the Cantonal Criminal Court of Lugano in its decision of 23 February 2010, the medical experts who treated the complainant during his preventive detention were not informed by him nor did they notice any sign of torture or ill-treatment.6 The State party further indicates that the complainant’s claims were reviewed by the Appeals Court of Ticino, following the complainant’s request to reopen his case. The court rejected the request on 17 June 2015, as it considered that the complainant’s allegations that he was tortured to obtain a confession were based solely on his declarations, which he had made to avoid being extradited. The court further considered that the case could be reopened only upon the presentation of new facts or evidence, which was not the case for the complainant, in so far as his allegations of torture related to events that had occurred prior to the criminal proceedings, during which he did not mention anything in that regard. Thus, the State party considers that domestic remedies were not exhausted regarding the allegations of torture during pretrial detention. 4.4 The State party also refers to the allegations of torture resulting from the solitary confinement imposed on the complainant as a disciplinary measure. It submits that the decisions to put the complainant in solitary confinement dated 26 April 2011, 4 August 2011, 21 March 2013, 21 July 2014, 29 July 2014 and 25 November 2014 were for a short period of time,7 which is compatible with the views of the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture. 8 It further submits that all disciplinary decisions indicated the possibility of appeal, providing information on the corresponding deadline. Nevertheless, the author has not appealed such decisions to the Federal Tribunal, which is the highest degree of jurisdiction in charge of controlling the constitutionality of disciplinary 5 6 7 8 The State party indicates that this possibility was stated in the last page of the court’s decision. The ruling indicates that psychologists who treated the complainant during that period met him several times, but no mention was made of possible acts of torture in their reports. The disciplinary measures were between three and eight days of solitary confinement. The State party quotes a report, available in Italian only, from the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture according to which solitary confinement not exceeding a period of 10 days is acceptable. See www.nkvf.admin.ch/dam/data/nkvf/Berichte/2011/tessin/120830_ber_la_farera.pdf, para. 49. 7