CAT/C/28/D/146/1999
page 6
4.5
Moreover, the Refugee Board found that even if the detention had taken place, they did
not consider that the complainant risked persecution and torture if returned to Georgia.
According to the State party, this assessment corresponds with the Committee’s jurisprudence in
A.L.N v. Switzerland and X, Y and Z v. Sweden.5
4.6
The State party emphasizes that there is no objective evidence to support the
complainant’s claim that she has been subjected to torture,6 nor has it been established that she is
wanted by Georgian authorities.7 The State party emphasizes that after her liberation, the
complainant moved to the Gegetjkori region and resumed her political activities, but that she has
not alleged any problems with the authorities while she resided there,8 and that the events that
motivated her departure date relatively far back in time.9
4.7
The Refugee Board did not attach importance to the declaration of the complainant’s
neighbours, explaining that the authorities persecuted her family by visiting and threatening
them, as this allegation was submitted at a later stage in the asylum proceedings and had not
been mentioned in her previous statements. The State party refers to the Committee’s practice
that if a complainant changes his or her account during the processing of the asylum application,
it is important that a logical explanation be given for doing so.10
4.8
The State party also considers it to be consistent with the Committee’s jurisprudence, that
due weight be given to the fact that the Convention against Torture entered into force for
Georgia on 25 November 1994.
The complainant’s comments on the State party’s observations
5.1
In a letter of 7 February 2000, counsel refers to the Committee’s jurisprudence in
E.A. v. Switzerland11 stating that it is sufficient that “‘substantial grounds’ in article 3 require
more than a mere possibility of torture but do not need to be highly likely to occur to satisfy that
provision’s conditions”, and contends that the complainant fulfils this condition.
5.2
Regarding the State party’s argument that the complainant’s father did not mention in his
asylum application that he participated in the liberation of prisoners, among them the
complainant, this is explained by his general scepticism towards authorities and his mental
situation subsequent to his partisan life.
5.3
Furthermore, the complainant cannot document that she has been subjected to torture,
including rape, as she has not undergone a medical examination in this regard. Her reluctance to
submit this information to the Danish authorities is explainable by the trauma of such
experiences. Counsel quotes the Committee’s jurisprudence in Kisoki v. Sweden 12 that
“complete accuracy is seldom to be expected by victims of torture and that such inconsistencies
as may exist in the author’s presentation of the facts are not material and do not raise doubts
about the general veracity of the author’s claims”.