CAT/C/57/D/558/2013
8.3
As the Committee finds no further obstacles to admissibility, it declares the
communication admissible and proceeds to its examination on the merits.
Consideration of the merits
9.1
In accordance with article 22 (4) of the Convention, the Committee has considered
the communication in the light of all information made available to it by the parties.
9.2
With regard to the first complainant’s claim under article 3 of the Convention, the
Committee must evaluate whether there are substantial grounds for believing that he would
be personally in danger of being subjected to torture, should he be returned to Belarus. In
assessing that risk, the Committee must take into account all relevant considerations,
pursuant to article 3 (2) of the Convention, including the existence of a consistent pattern of
gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights. However, the Committee recalls that the
aim of the evaluation is to establish whether the individual concerned would be personally
at a foreseeable and real risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which he or she
would be returned.8 It follows that the existence of a pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute sufficient reason for
determining that a particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture on
return to that country; additional grounds must be adduced to show that the individual
concerned would be personally at risk. Conversely, the absence of a consistent pattern of
flagrant violations of human rights does not mean that a person might not be subjected to
torture in his or her specific circumstances.
9.3
The Committee recalls that, in accordance with its general comment No. 1, it gives
considerable weight to findings of fact that are made by organs of the State party
concerned,9 while at the same time it is not bound by such findings and instead has the
power, provided in article 22 (4) of the Convention, of free assessment of the facts based
upon the full set of circumstances in every case.
9.4
In the present case, the first complainant claimed that in 1999 his brother had been
killed after having joined the Chechen resistance in 1997, and that after his brother’s death,
the first complainant had been kidnapped by members of a pro-Russian paramilitary group
called Kadyrovtsi, who detained him and tortured him for two weeks. The first complainant
also submitted that if he was returned to Belarus, he would be deported to the Russian
Federation and would face torture because of his perceived affiliation with the Chechen
resistance and because he had fled the country. The Committee notes that the State party
dismissed the first complainant’s account of torture in Chechnya, stating that it lacked
credibility because the information he gave regarding the date of his arrest in Chechnya was
contradictory and he could not provide any details about the detention conditions.The
Committee notes that the complainant provided a detailed description of the torture that he
had endured, both to the national authorities and in his submission to the Committee. The
Committee also notes that the complainant has presented medical certificates, dated
31 March 2007 and 14 January 2011, certifying that he suffers from post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression and that he underwent orthopaedic treatment, confirming that it is
likely that the complainant was subjected to torture in the past. Concerning the State party’s
general argument that the first complainant’s account is not credible, the Committee recalls
its jurisprudence that complete accuracy is seldom to be expected by victims of torture and
that such inconsistencies as may exist in the complainant’s presentation of the facts are not
8
9
See, inter alia, communication No. 470/2011, X. v. Switzerland, decision adopted on 24 December
2014.
See, inter alia, communication No. 356/2008, N.S. v. Switzerland, decision adopted on 6 May 2010,
para. 7.3.
9