9.2 In particular, counsel submits that there is systematic torture by the Pakistani authorities. Human Rights Commission’s annual report refers to torture and torture with impunity by the police. finding. a great deal of evidence of He states that the Pakistan the prevalence of death by Other reports support this 9.3 Counsel concedes that the Canadian refugee claim determination system is good on paper, but argues that even in a good system, mistakes are made. In this context, he emphasizes that the Canadian system does not allow for an appeal on the merits, but only for an appeal (with leave) on matters of law. Because of this, there is no possibility to correct errors on facts and the system has been criticized for that. Counsel refers to a report, dated December 1993, on the Immigration and Refugee Board, which shows that serious problems exist. He adds that it is known among refugee lawyers that the problems with the Board in Montreal are more serious than elsewhere, because of the incompetence of board members. He claims that it is clear from reading the decision of the Refugee Board in the author’s case that the basis of his claim has not been examined. He claims also that the transcript of the hearing shows that the author and his representative were constantly interrupted in their presentation of the case, and that there was no examination of what had happened to the author in Pakistan. Instead, the members of the Board focused on contradictions in the dates of events. 9.4 Counsel submits that from early 1991 to early 1993, less than 1 per cent of refused refugees were given status in Canada under the post-claim riskassessment process. After severe criticism, the system was amended and new regulatory criteria were established. However, counsel states that these new criteria were still applied by the same deportation officers who had refused everybody before. He claims that the recent figures (0.3 per cent acceptance rate in 1993) show that the new system is a farce. For this reason, the Government called for a further report (see above, para. 6.6). This report condemned incompetence, unwillingness to apply international human rights standards and bureaucratic opposition to treating people fairly. It stated that post-claim risk-assessments should not be made by deportation agents, but by other officials. It is stated that the recommendations of the report have not been implemented by the Government. 9.5 Counsel claims that the post-claim decision in the author’s case, dated 10 May 1994, show all the shortcomings established by the report, since the grounds in favour of protecting the author were not examined. 9.6 Council claims that the alleged inconsistencies and contradictions in the author’s evidence and submissions are not such that they make his testimony unreliable. He states that the author has submitted sufficient evidence to corroborate his story. As regards the State party’s argument that no evidence of previous torture was submitted before July 1994, counsel points out that the author was in detention from mid-March to July 1994 and that the medical examination was conducted immediately after his release. As to the State party’s claim that the author was given the opportunity to find a third country, counsel states that he is not aware of such an offer. 9.7 As regards the review conducted by the State party after July 1994, counsel argues this was not an independent review. He states that the review was done by a low-level administrative official working for the enforcement side of Immigration Canada. He further states that there is no evidence that this officer examined the situation in Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. In this context, counsel points out that he made submissions on -52-