CAT/C/63/D/488/2012
jurisprudence, any assessment of the risk of torture must be carried out in the light of the
information that was possessed, or ought to have been possessed, by the authorities of the
State party before the expulsion took place, while information obtained thereafter “is
relevant only to assess what the State party actually knew, or could have deduced, about the
risk of torture at the time the complainant was expelled”.16 The evaluation of the risks of
torture made prior to a person’s deportation should not be confused with any ill-treatment
that the complainant claims to have suffered after he was handed over to the Rwandan
authorities. The complainant has not provided the Committee with any new evidence
regarding his treatment since his arrival in Rwanda that might lead to the conclusion that
the State party actually knew, or could have deduced, that there was a risk of torture at the
time of his expulsion.
6.3
The State party reiterates that its national authorities conducted a thorough analysis
of the risks that the complainant claimed that he would face and that it is not the role of the
Committee to act as a fourth instance, unless to demonstrate arbitrariness or a denial of
justice.17
6.4
On the merits, the State party reiterates that the complainant’s allegations do not
indicate a violation of article 3 of the Convention, given that a risk of torture was not
established or foreseeable prior to his extradition and that, thereafter, the material that he
has submitted does not support the finding of a violation of the prohibition of torture within
the meaning of article 1 of the Convention. The claims that he has received death threats
and fears for his life have not been corroborated.
6.5
The State party specifies that it obtained assurances from Rwanda that the
complainant’s case would be considered and handled as a transfer under article 24 of the
Act concerning transfer of cases. Consequently, when the complainant was returned, the
State party expected him to enjoy the same guarantees and safeguards as those provided for
by the Transfer Act for defendants transferred by the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda. The State party recalls that, as an additional precautionary measure, it received
clear diplomatic assurances from Rwanda before returning the complainant, even though
the Canadian authorities had concluded that he would not face a risk of torture. Furthermore,
in his comments, the complainant provides no credible evidence that Rwanda has failed to
honour its diplomatic assurances since then.
Additional comments by the complainant
7.1
On 16 May 2016, the complainant submitted his comments on the State party’s
observations of 28 February 2012. He maintained that his trial in Rwanda started on 12
September 2012. On 15 April 2016, the High Court of Rwanda sentenced him to life
imprisonment for public incitement to genocide and persecution and inculcation of hatred
based on ethnicity, and acquitted him of the charges of conspiracy to commit genocide and
complicity in genocide.
7.2
The complainant challenges the decision of the Minister’s delegate to return him to
Rwanda on the grounds that he disregarded evidence of the risk of torture and failed to use
objective criteria in the risk analysis; he further asserts that the decision to expel him was
emotional in nature. He considers the decision to return him to Rwanda to have been
arbitrary and is of the view that it was taken without considering the real, personal and
foreseeable risk of torture that he faces, especially in view of the systematic and flagrant
commission of mass violations of human rights. In choosing to determine whether he was
“highly likely” to face a risk of torture, the State party failed to follow the guidance of the
Committee, according to which it should simply have determined whether the complainant
was “likely” to run a risk of torture. The complainant further maintains that the risk of
torture was foreseeable for the State party, particularly in view of the arbitrary detentions
and abuse of prisoners that have occurred in Rwanda, the fact that torture was not
punishable under the Rwandan Penal Code at the time of his removal and the complainant’s
status as a political opponent. The State party should have prosecuted him in Canada under
16
17
10
Sogi v. Canada (CAT/C/39/D/297/2006), para. 10.8.
P.E. v. France (CAT/C/29/D/193/2001), para. 6.5.
GE.18-15056