CAT/C/58/D/682/2015 8.3 In assessing whether there are substantial grounds for believing that Mr. Alhaj Ali would be in danger of being subjected to torture, the Committee recalls that it must take into account all relevant considerations, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in the requesting State. However, the aim of such an analysis is to determine whether Mr. Alhaj Ali runs a personal risk of being subjected to torture in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, the existence in the country of a pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights does not as such constitute sufficient grounds for determining that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture on extradition to that country; additional grounds must exist to indicate that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. 8.4 The Committee refers to its general comment No. 1, which states that, in light of the obligation to determine whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the individual concerned would be in danger of being subjected to torture were he to be expelled, returned or extradited, the Committee must assess the risk of torture on the basis of elements beyond mere theory or suspicion. However, it is not necessary to demonstrate that the risk is highly probable, although it must be personal and real. In previous decisions, the Committee has ruled that the risk of torture must be foreseeable, real and personal. 8.5 The Committee must consider the actual human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and recalls that, in its concluding observations on the second periodic report of Saudi Arabia issued during its fifty-seventh session (CAT/C/SAU/CO/2), it expressed concern at the many serious allegations it had received of cases of torture and ill-treatment inflicted on detainees by law enforcement officers. The Committee also expressed deep concern at the imposition under Saudi law of corporal punishment, including flogging and amputation, which are grave and flagrant violations of the Convention. The Committee furthermore expressed concern at the punishments provided for by law, which include corporal punishments that the Committee considered to constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee further noted that migrant workers were especially at risk of torture or ill-treatment, particularly as a result of the kafala system. The Committee recalled that Saudi Arabia had no law to regulate and guide expulsion proceedings or to ensure, inter alia, that the principle of non-refoulement was applied, and that it had not ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Lastly, the Committee expressed deep concern at the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, and noted in this regard that migrant workers account for a particularly large and disproportionate number of victims of executions in the country.14 8.6 While taking note of the actual human rights situation in Saudi Arabia as described above, the Committee recalls that additional grounds must exist to show that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. In the present case, the Committee notes the complainant’s argument that her husband, Mr. Alhaj Ali, who has been in pretrial detention in Morocco since October 2014, is facing imminent extradition to Saudi Arabia on charges of breach of trust, for which he was reportedly prosecuted in the Syrian Arab Republic and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment, which he served in 2007. In this connection, the Committee notes that, in determining the existence of a foreseeable, real and personal risk of torture under article 3 of the Convention, it expresses no opinion as to the veracity of the criminal charges that are or may have been made against the individual concerned. 8.7 The Committee confirms that it is within the purview of the courts of the States parties to the Convention to assess the facts and evidence in a case. The appeal courts of States parties are responsible for reviewing the conduct of a trial, unless it can be 14 12 Of the 2,208 persons executed between January 1985 and June 2015, at least 1,072, or 48.5 per cent, were foreign nationals, with the majority being migrant workers (Amnesty International, A/HRC/30/NGO/147, 9 September 2015). GE.16-15793

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