5.3 As for the argument that the author's father should have been prosecuted, counsel says that the father is a sick old man who does not belong to the sector of the population that normally joins the guerrilla movement, i.e. the younger generation. The author, however, clearly informed the Swiss authorities that his father had been held in police custody for one week, during which time he was questioned two or three times about his whereabouts. 5.4 Counsel considers that it is not realistic to ask the author to provide a copy of his cousin's criminal record. The author left Turkey shortly after his cousin's arrest and does not know whether his cousin had a lawyer. Only a lawyer would have been in a position to provide such documents, since his cousin's wife, children and mother left the country and the author has no contact with them. Counsel says that the Swiss authorities should have been able to obtain that kind of document. 5.5 Counsel adds that the PKK member who contacted him and his father and asked them to make the shoes knew through the author's cousin that the author and his father were PKK sympathizers, so that he did not run the kind of risk referred to by the State party. Issues and proceedings before the Committee 6.1 Before considering any claims contained in a communication, the Committee against Torture must decide whether or not 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. The Committee also notes that all domestic remedies have been exhausted and that the State party has not contested the admissibility of the communication. It therefore considers that the communication is admissible. Since both the State party and the author's counsel have provided observations on the merits of the communication, the Committee proceeds with the consideration of those merits. 6.2 The issue before the Committee is whether the forced return of the author is Turkey would violate the obligation of Switzerland under article 3 of the Convention not to expel or to return a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 6.3 The Committee must decide, pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 3, whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the author would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon return to Turkey. In reaching this decision, the Committee must take into account all relevant considerations, pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 3, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights. The aim of the determination, however, is to establish whether the individual concerned would be personally at risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which he or she would return. The existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute a sufficient ground for determining that a particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon his return to that country; specific grounds must exist indicating that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. Similarly, the absence of a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights does not mean that a person cannot be considered to be in danger of being subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances. 6.4 The Committee recalls its general comment on the implementation of article 3 which reads: "Bearing in mind that the State party and the Committee are obliged to assess whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the author would be in danger of being subjected to torture were he/she to be expelled, returned or extradited, the risk of torture must be assessed on grounds that 113

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