Communication No. 36/1995 Submitted by: X Alleged victim: The author State party: The Netherlands Date of communication: 17 November 1995 The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 8 May 1996, Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 36/1995, submitted to the Committee against Torture under article 22 of the Convention, Having taken into account all information made available to it by the author of the communication, his counsel and the State party, Adopts the following: Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention 1. The author of the communication is X, a Zairian citizen, at the time of submission of the communication awaiting his deportation from the Netherlands. He claims that his return to Zaire would be in violation of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He is represented by counsel. Facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author states that he is a sympathizer of the political movement Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS). In 1992 he was arrested with many others during a mass demonstration and kept in detention for several days. The author states that he was beaten with a rope with wire in it. In 1993, the author was again arrested and kept in detention for a few days. After his release, he left the country. 2.2 The author’s request for political asylum in the Netherlands was rejected by the State Secretary of Justice. The Secretary accepted that the author had been detained twice, but considered that nothing indicated that he was perceived as an important political opponent by the Zairian authorities. In this connection, the Secretary noted that the author had not been harassed by the authorities in the period between his first and second arrest. 2.3 The author subsequently requested a review of this decision and requested the President of the Court in The Hague to grant provisional measures to defer his expulsion until a decision on his request for review had been taken. The author’s request was rejected. The President considered that the situation in Zaire was not such as to justify a general prohibition of returning persons to the country. He found that the author had failed to show that he personally was at risk of being detained and tortured upon return. In this connection, the -76-