68.
In complaint No. 174/2000 (Nikolic v. Serbia and Montenegro) the complainants claimed
that the State party’s failure to proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation of the
circumstances of their son’s death while being arrested by the police, constituted a violation of
articles 12, 13 and 14 of the Convention. The Committee considered that a number of elements
cast doubts on the sequence of events leading to the death of the complainants’ son, as
established by the State party’s authorities. On the basis of such elements, it considered that
there were reasonable grounds for the State party to investigate the complainants’ allegations that
their son was tortured prior to his death. The question therefore arose whether the investigative
measures taken by the authorities were commensurate to the requirement of article 12 of the
Convention. After examining such measures the Committee concluded that the investigation had
not been impartial and, therefore, there had been a violation of article 12. The Committee also
observed that the courts based their finding that there had been no physical contact between the
police and the complainants’ son exclusively on evidence that had been challenged by the
complainants and which, according to them, was flawed by numerous inconsistencies. The
courts dismissed the complainants’ appeals without addressing their arguments. Accordingly,
the Committee concluded that the State party’s courts failed to examine the case impartially,
thereby violating article 13 of the Convention.
69.
Complaints Nos. 231/2003 (S.N.A.W. v. Switzerland), 235/2003 (M.S.H. v. Sweden),
237/2003 (M.C.M.V.F. v. Sweden), 238/2003 (Z.T. v. Norway), 245/2004 (S.S. v. Canada) and
254/2004 (S.S.H. v. Switzerland) concerned asylum-seekers claiming that their expulsion, return
or extradition to their countries of origin would constitute a violation of article 3 of the
Convention, as they will be at risk of being subjected to torture. The Committee, after
examining the claims and evidence submitted by the complainants as well as the arguments from
the States parties concluded that such risk had not been established. Accordingly, no breach of
article 3 was found.
70.
In complaint No. 258/2004 (Mostafa Dadar v. Canada), the complainant was an Iranian
national legally residing in Canada, against whom a Danger Opinion under the Immigration Act
had been issued declaring him to be a danger to the public. As a result, he was ordered deported
by the Canadian authorities. The complainant claimed before the Committee that his deportation
would amount to a violation of article 3 of the Convention by Canada, as he would be at risk of
being subjected to torture in Iran. After examining the arguments and evidence submitted to it,
the Committee concluded that substantial grounds existed for believing that the complainant may
risk being subjected to torture. Accordingly, his deportation would amount to a violation of the
Convention. The Committee regrets that, despite the Committee’s finding, the State party
deported the author to Iran.
71.
At its thirty-sixth session, the Committee adopted decisions on the merits in respect of
complaints Nos. 181/2001 (Suleymane Guengueng et al. v. Senegal), 256/2004 (M.Z. v. Sweden)
and 278/2005 (A.E. v. Switzerland). The text of these decisions is also reproduced in annex VIII,
section A, to the present report.
72.
Complaint No. 181/2001 (Suleymane Guengueng et al. v. Senegal), concerned seven
Chadian citizens who claimed having been victims of acts of torture committed by Chadian
agents answerable directly to the then President Hissène Habré, between 1982 and 1990.
85
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents