lack of schooling; moreover, the fact that the second one took place three years after the first meant that his memory of events changed. His lack of education also accounts for his ignorance of various aspects of the PKK and explains why he did what he could to support this organization. The Federal Office for Refugees turned down the author's application for asylum on 1 November 1994. The author's appeal to the Swiss Appeal Commission on Asylum Matters was rejected on 6 November 1998. Merits of the complaint 3.2 The author claims that torture is commonly used in Turkey during police interrogations, as has been confirmed by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. According to the author, people committing acts of torture are protected by the 1991 AntiTerrorist Act and by the courts and tribunals.c "This state of affairs will never change as long as the Turkish Republic is based on the myth of an ethnically homogeneous Turkish people, sustained despite all proof to the contrary by an army fighting an unwinnable war that the Turkish economy can ill afford, the cost of which has led to the corruption of the entire political class".d 3.2 The first argument put forward by the author is that he comes from a family with close links to the PKK and whose mere reputation could give him the most serious kinds of problems with the Turkish authorities, including torture. As emphasized in a court ruling in Stuttgart, Germany, concerning his cousin F.M., as a member of a family that has suffered deeply from persecution, the author will certainly be tortured if he returns to Turkey. The risk is real and personal since he has already been subjected to torture and the Turkish authorities rightly believe that he has helped PKK guerrillas by doing small favours for them and supporting them. Observations by the State party on the admissibility and merits of the communication 4.1 The State party did not contest the admissibility of the communication and made observations on its merits in a letter dated 9 August 1999. 4.2 First, the State party recalls that the existence of a pattern of mass, flagrant or systematic violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute a sufficient ground for concluding that a person would be in danger of being subjected to torture if he returned to that country. There must also be grounds for believing that the author would be personally at risk. 4.3 Furthermore, the State party does not believe the author can claim to be the victim of "deliberate persecution", defined as government reprisals against the families of political activists. Even though the author's older brother Y. was wanted for his PKK activities, there had been no contact between the two of them for over 10 years, according to the author's statements when he applied for asylum. It is therefore unlikely that the author was wanted by the Turkish authorities at the time of his flight. As the Committee has already recalled, the fear of persecution must be of a current nature at the time when the communication is under consideration.e Moreover, Y. was killed on 13 February 1995 and this gives the Turkish authorities even less reason to look for the author. Lastly, with the death of Y., the author no longer has any family members in Turkey who are active members of the PKK. Those who might be subjected to "deliberate persecution" are either outside Turkey or dead. c Public statement by Amnesty International on 11 March 1998. d Neue Zürcher Zeitung No. 19/1998, p. 5. e Decision No. 61/1996, X, Y and Z v. Sweden, 6 May 1998. 127