A/HRC/19/61/Add.4 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a) UA 23/02/2011 Case No. GBR 1/2011 State reply: None to date Alleged risk of torture for asylum seeker facing deportation. 168. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has not responded to this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council. The communication referred to allegations of risk of torture for Mr. X, a homosexual man, if returned to Burundi. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture holds that no State party shall expel, return (“refouler”), or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture. Based on the information received, the Special Rapporteur determines that the rights of Mr. X under the UN Convention against Torture are at risk of being violated. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government not to extradite Mr. X until a fair assessment of his risk of torture is conducted. In this context, diplomatic assurances do not mitigate the Government‟s obligation to refrain from violating the non-refoulement provision. (b) JAL 11/11/2011 Case No. GBR 6/2011 State reply: 13/01/2012 26/01/2012 Concerns regarding the remit and conduct of the forthcoming United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) Detainee Inquiry. 169. The Special Rapporteur is grateful to the Government for its responses to this communication. Given the on-going dialogue between the mandate and the Government on this case, the Special Rapporteur decides not to make observations on this case in the present report. United States of America (a) UA 30/12/2010 Case No. USA 20/2010 State reply: 27/01/2011 19/05/2011 Allegations of prolonged solitary confinement of a soldier charged with the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. 170. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the United States of America for its response to this communication regarding the alleged prolonged solitary confinement of Mr. Bradley E. Manning, a US soldier charged with the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. According to the information received, Mr. Manning was held in solitary confinement for twenty-three hours a day following his arrest in May 2010 in Iraq, and continuing through his transfer to the brig at Marine Corps Base Quantico. His solitary confinement - lasting about eleven months - was terminated upon his transfer from Quantico to the Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth on 20 April 2011. In his report, the Special Rapporteur stressed that “solitary confinement is a harsh measure which may cause serious psychological and physiological adverse effects on individuals regardless of their specific conditions.” Moreover, “[d]epending on the specific reason for its application, conditions, length, effects and other circumstances, solitary confinement can amount to a breach of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to an act defined in article 1 or article 16 of the Convention against Torture.” (A/66/268 paras. 79 and 80) Before the transfer of Pfc Manning to Fort Leavenworth, the Special Rapporteur requested an opportunity to interview him in order to ascertain the precise conditions of his detention. The US Government authorized the visit but ascertained that it could not ensure that the conversation would not be monitored. Since a non-private conversation with an inmate would violate the terms of reference applied universally in fact-finding by Special Procedures, the Special Rapporteur had to decline the invitation. In 74