CAT/C/20/D/94/1997 page 6 7.7 The State party concludes that the author has failed to show that he would risk to be subjected to torture upon return to Sri Lanka. The State party adds that the situation of human rights in a country cannot bring a person within the protection of article 3 in the absence of a personal risk. According to the State party, the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has improved considerably since October 1994, after the installation of the Human Rights Task Force. It also points out that the author could reside in a part of Sri Lanka that does not suffer from civil war. The author’s comments 8.1 In his comments, the author maintains that the Sri Lanka army is looking for him since his brother joined the LTTE, and that he told the Swiss authorities about this. The fact that he also had problems with the Tamil movements, does not contradict his problems with the army. In this connection, counsel for the author notes that the ODR and the CRA never pointed to any contradictions in the author's story. Counsel explains that the author's fear for the LTTE has not been mentioned in his communication to the Committee, because the LTTE controls only the northern part of Sri Lanka, and the author could hide from them in Colombo if he wanted. This does not imply that he has changed his story for the benefit of the application of article 3 of the Convention. 8.2 Counsel submits that the author is threatened by serious persecution from the Sri Lanka security services, since the war is still continuing and since the LTTE have increased their activities in Colombo. 8.3 With regard to the State party's concern that the Committee is being used as a regular supervisory body, counsel submits that the State party's concern is groundless, in view of the fact that Swiss immigration authorities handle about 30,000 cases a year. Counsel notes that the author's case was examined by one ODR official and the appeal was heard by a single judge. In counsel's opinion, the judges are not really independent since they are appointed by the Government and not by Parliament. Issues and proceedings before the Committee 9. Before considering any claims 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. The Committee finds that no further obstacles to the admissibility of the communication exist and proceeds with the consideration of the merits of the communication. 10.1 The Committee has considered the communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties, in accordance with article 22, paragraph 4, of the Convention. 10.2 The Committee must decide, pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 3, whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the author would be in danger of being subject to torture upon return to Sri Lanka. In reaching this