late 1980s and early 1990s a blind eye was turned to police abuses, it is now recognized, particularly by the Ministry of the Interior and the Supreme Court in New Delhi, that the Punjabi police need to be brought under control. As a result, many cases against Punjabi police officers have been reopened. However, the experts say that the climate of impunity that protects the Punjabi police will change only slowly, because the problem is a long-standing one, rooted in firmly entrenched attitudes. 4.11 According to one of the experts, the use of force is part of the culture of the Punjabi police, who still have the power to commit many unacceptable acts without being held accountable. For example, they still have the power to take people to a police station and mistreat them. Police torture is endemic in India. Another of the experts emphasized that, although the ill-treatment meted out to detainees in the Punjab is serious, it is no worse than elsewhere in India today. The experts also pointed out that those who are not suspected of being leading activists are not at risk in the Punjab today and that there is now considerably better access to the legal system for those who do suffer ill-treatment. 4.12 As regards the possible risks faced by those returned to India by Canada, one of the experts stated that representatives of the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi regularly observed the arrival of persons deported from Canada at the airport. There have been 8 or 10 such cases in recent years and the Indian authorities have left all these people alone, apart from one leader of the Khalistan Commando Force, who was arrested. The expert also stated that in the past few years, Canadian High Commission staff in New Delhi have held immigration interviews with many dependants of people from the Punjab to whom Canada has granted refugee status. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the dependants do not corroborate their relative's statements, indicating that the relative went to Canada for economic reasons. 4.13 According to the State party, neither the Immigration and Refugee Board nor the reviewing official found the author's allegations credible, because of the numerous inconsistencies they discovered in the course of their inquiries. They also noted that the author's behaviour between the time of his release in November 1993 and his application for refugee status in Canada in August 1994 was inconsistent with fear of persecution by the police. As a farmer, the author was hardly likely to be considered a "leading activist". He would therefore not be in any danger of torture if he returned to his country. 4.14 The State party therefore concludes that the author's communication demonstrates no special circumstances in support of the allegation that he would face a real and personal risk of being subjected to torture. Although the author alleges that he was tortured by the Indian authorities between 25 and 29 November 1993 and says he fears police persecution, there is no indication that the Indian authorities have been looking for him since that time. He makes no claim to be an opposition activist and his behaviour since his release is inconsistent with a reasonable fear of being imprisoned, tortured or killed, or even of being wanted by the Indian authorities. 4.15 Although the author submitted medical reports to the Canadian authorities, including one by an orthopaedist who noted injuries that were not inconsistent with the allegations of torture, the injuries did not substantiate the medical reports since the reports were based on information supplied by the author himself, whom the authorities do not find credible. 4.16 In the light of the foregoing, the State party argues that the author has not established prima facie grounds for believing that returning him to India would expose him to a personal risk of torture, and that the communication should therefore be declared inadmissible. 163