CAT/C/38/D/268/2005 page 6 surprisingly, were produced only in the present procedure. Moreover, the State party notes with some surprise that the complainant attempted to prove the existence of criminal proceedings against him by producing an essentially internal document (the “First Information Report”, or FIR) whereas he has not provided other official documents that are easily accessible to an accused person, such as, for example, the indictment or the arrest warrant. It is also surprising to note that the First Information Report blames the complainant for having caused the death of a person during the events of 6 August 2004, whereas the “official summons” which, moreover, is the only official document that refers to the existence of an arrest warrant for the complainant is dated 26 April 2005, or eight and a half months later. Regardless of these inconsistencies relating to substantive points in the complainant’s claims, the State party is of the view that whether or not the complainant can be believed is not a determining factor in the present case. As the domestic authorities have pointed out, the documents submitted by the complainant only confirmed claims that were not useful in determining whether the complainant ran a real and personal risk of being subjected to torture if he returned to Pakistan. Author’s comments on the State party’s observations 7.1 On 22 December 2005, the complainant transmitted to the Committee an annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on conditions in Pakistani prisons. On 3 November 2006, the complainant transmitted to the Committee a note from Mr. Khawaja Mohammad Asif, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, stating that, if the complainant returned to Pakistan he would be arrested and imprisoned for political reasons because of an offence that he had not committed, and that conditions of detention in Pakistani prisons are such that imprisonment constitutes torture or at least inhuman treatment. 7.2 In a letter dated 19 January 2007, the complainant reiterates that detention conditions in Pakistani prisons are inhuman. Acts of torture, brutality and ill-treatment, as well as periods of pretrial detention that can last up to five years are frequent, as indicated in the report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The State party does not submit any evidence to the contrary and has not taken into account the systematic human rights violations in Pakistani prisons. In cases of imminent arrest, the only way to avoid being tortured in a Pakistani prison is to leave the country. Persons who opt to defend themselves in the courts instead of fleeing abroad resign themselves to the fact that they will be tortured in prison. 7.3 Political activists, particularly PML-N activists like the complainant, are at risk of becoming victims of illegal detention. The State party recognized this fact in its observations of 12 October 2005. This is all the more probable since the authorities have the pretext of putting the complainant in prison because of the violent death of a person during the demonstration organized by the complainant. As the complainant was aware that he risked being tortured, he requested his uncle, who is an influential person, to arrange his release from prison and enable him to leave the country immediately. 7.4 The complainant considers that the State party’s attitude is contradictory. On the one hand, the State party does not challenge the fact that the complainant is a member of PML-N, that the activities in question did indeed take place and that the complainant played a major role in the organization of a political demonstration that resulted in a murder. On the other, the State party would like to believe that the complainant runs no risk of torture even though it is aware that