CAT/C/31/D/209/2002
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Convention not to expel or return (‘refouler’) an individual to another State where there are
substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
In reaching its conclusion, the Committee must take into account all relevant
considerations, including the existence in the relevant State of a consistent pattern of gross,
flagrant or mass violations of human rights. However, the aim is to establish whether the
individual concerned would be at personal risk of torture in the country to which he or she
would be returned. In accordance with the Committee’s jurisprudence, the existence of a
consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violation of human rights in a country does not
of itself constitute sufficient grounds for determining whether the person in question would
be at risk of being subjected to torture upon return to that country. Nor does the absence of
such a situation mean that a person cannot be considered at risk of being subjected to
torture.
6.3
The Committee recalls its General Comment on article 3, which states that the
Committee must assess whether there are ‘substantial grounds for believing that the author
would be in danger of torture’ if returned, and that the risk of torture ‘must be assessed on
grounds that go beyond mere theory or suspicion’. The risk involved need not be ‘highly
probable’, but it must be ‘personal and present’. In this regard, in previous decisions, the
Committee has consistently determined that the risk of torture must be ‘foreseeable, real
and personal.
6.4
In assessing the risk of torture in the present case, the Committee notes that the
complainant claims to have been tortured and imprisoned previously by the Algerian
authorities. The findings of the medical examination carried out on him are consistent with
these claims, although they do not discount other possible causes for the complainant’s
injuries. In relation to the psychologist’s report, the Committee notes that the complainant
was found to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that this was said to be
consistent with his claim of having been subjected to torture in the past. The report also
found that past torture could account for the discrepancies in the complainant’s story. The
Committee notes the complainant’s submission that this report constitutes the only formal
psychological evidence about his mental condition. It also notes that this report was
considered by the Danish authorities in connection with the complainant’s application to
have his case reopened, and was found not to contain new information.
6.5
The relevant evidence in the case was fully considered by the Danish authorities.
and, consistent with the Committee’s case law, due weight must be accorded to findings of
fact made by government authorities. In the present case, the complainant’s account of his
experiences to the Danish authorities contained numerous discrepancies. The Danish
authorities made conclusions about the complainant’s credibility which, in the Committee’s
view, were reasonable and by no reckoning arbitrary. In this regard, the Committee notes
paragraph 8 of its General Comment No 1, pursuant to which questions about the
credibility of a complainant, and the presence of relevant factual inconsistencies in his
claim, are pertinent to the Committee’s deliberations as to whether the complainant would
be in danger of being tortured upon return.
6.6
The complainant’s initial submission and his subsequent explanations of his
inconsistencies noted by the State party in its submission do not permit the Committee to
make any informed decision on the likelihood of him being subjected to torture on his
return to Algeria. In light of the foregoing, the Committee finds that the complainant has
not established that he would face a foreseeable, real and personal risk of being tortured,
within the meaning of article 3 of the Convention.