CAT/C/53/D/470/2011
discrepancies are present in many asylum applications and there is a mounting risk of
finding that asylum seekers have fabricated their statements, solely on the basis of
discrepancies between interviews, and of making incorrect judgements.14
5.7
The complainant concludes that there is no well-founded reason to doubt his
statements and that his description of the events is precise and highly credible. Therefore, in
the light of his personal situation and the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of
Iran, he has a well-founded fear of being subjected to torture, if forcibly returned to the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
5.8
On 24 October 2013, the complainant submitted a statement by the Iranian Public
Prosecutor, dated 22 July 2013, saying that persons who had left the country in connection
with the events of 2009 would be detained upon entry and prosecuted upon return. The
complainant also states that he has been actively supporting atheistic and agnostic views
and has translated three atheistic videos from English into Farsi. These videos are not
available online. He claims that his atheistic and agnostic views, in addition to his previous
submissions and the banned publications found in his parents’ house during the search of
27 December 2009, enhance his well-founded fear of prosecution, if deported to the Islamic
Republic of Iran. He explains that apostasy or abandonment of one’s religious faith —
Islam, in his case — can be punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
6.1
Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Committee must
decide whether it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. The Committee has
ascertained, as it is required to do 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.
6.2
The Committee recalls that, in accordance with article 22, paragraph 5 (b), of the
Convention, it shall not consider any communication from an individual unless it has
ascertained that the individual has exhausted all available domestic remedies. The
Committee notes that, in the instant case, the State party has contested neither the
exhaustion of all available domestic remedies by the complainant nor the admissibility of
the complaint.
6.3
The Committee considers that the complaint raises substantive issues under article 3
of the Convention and that those issues should be examined on the merits. As the
Committee finds no obstacles to the admissibility, it declares the communication
admissible.
Consideration of the merits
7.1
In accordance with article 22, paragraph 4, of the Convention, the Committee has
considered the present communication in the light of all information made available to it by
the parties concerned.
7.2
With regard to the complainant’s claim under article 3 of the Convention, the
Committee must evaluate whether there are substantial grounds for believing that he would
be personally in danger of being subjected to torture, should he be returned to the Islamic
14
10
See Jane Herlihy, Peter Scragg and Stuart Turner, “Discrepancies in autobiographical memories –
implications for the assessment of asylum seekers: repeated interviews study”, in BMJ, vol. 324
(9 February 2002). Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC65293/.