CAT/C/32/D/182/2001 Page 6 Lanka. Likewise, no such risk could be inferred from the frequent identity controls and arrests of Tamils in Sri Lanka. 4.4 The State party submits that the fact that no criminal proceedings were instituted against the complainant shows that he is not personally at risk of being tortured by the Sri Lankan security forces. For the State party, the EPRLF and TELO militia, if at all active in the Chankanai area in 1997, never showed an interest in the complainant’s own activities, but allegedly tortured him to extract information about the LTTE connection of his deceased brother, S. 4.5 Lastly, the State party argues that the complainant could prove, if returned to Sri Lanka, that he lived in Switzerland from 1997 onwards, thereby dispelling any suspicion of having collaborated with the LTTE during that time. Complainant’s comments on the State party’s submissions 5.1 On 22 December 2003, in his comments on the State party’s merits submission, counsel argues that contradictions in the complainant’s statements before the Swiss authorities resulted from a “loss of reality”. Traumatized persons often experience difficulties in remembering the details and chronology of their history. 5.2 The complainant challenges that the EPRLF/TELO had no longer been active in the Chankanai region between April and June 1997, on the basis that the State party had failed to cite any verifiable reference for this contention. 5.3 The complainant rejects the State party’s argument that he did not sufficiently corroborate his claims. Thus, his deceased brother’s LTTE membership was a documented fact and sufficient ground for believing that the Sri Lankan authorities would hold him in suspicion. Moreover, acts of torture were generally concealed by the responsible State organs, with the result that evidence was frequently unavailable. 5.4 The complainant argues that, instead of discrediting the psychiatric reports submitted by him, the State party should have sought the medical opinion of a State examiner. While not proving his allegations, the existing reports of January and September 1999 at least confirmed that his posttraumatic stress disorder was the direct result of past experiences of torture. 5.5 Lastly, the complainant submits that numerous incidents of torture and illtreatment in Sri Lankan prisons were reported in 2003 and that, despite ongoing peace negotiations, respect for the rule of law is still not ensured in Sri Lanka. Issues and proceedings before the Committee 6.1 Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Committee against Torture must decide whether or not it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. The Committee has ascertained, as it is required to do under article 22, paragraph 5 (a), of the Convention, that the same matter has not been, and is not being, examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. In the present case, the Committee also notes that all domestic remedies have been exhausted and that the State party has conceded that the communication is admissible.