Seeking Remedies for Torture Victims: A Handbook on the Individual Complaints Procedures of the UN Tready Bodies Therefore, if the State party fails to cooperate with the relevant treaty body in providing information about the author’s allegations, the burden of proof will generally be reversed and, subsequently, if sufficiently substantiated, the Committee concerned will give credit to the torture and ill-treatment accounts provided by the author.273 For instance, in Agabekov v. Uzbekistan, the HRC concluded that: In the absence of any information by the State party, in particular in relation to any inquiry made by the authorities both in the context of the author’s son’s criminal case or in the context of the present communication, and in light of the detailed description provided by the author of how her son was ill-treated by investigators, the methods of torture used, and the names of those responsible, due weight must be given to the author’s allegations. In the circumstances of the case, the Committee concludes that the facts as presented disclose a violation of article 7 of the Covenant.274 2.1.3 The Process of the Consideration of a Complaint The complaint is originally submitted to the Secretariat of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and, in particular, to the Petitions and Inquiries Section.275 An author should explicitly request the complaint to be forwarded to the HRC for consideration under the OP or to the CAT Committee for consideration under the CAT. The complaint is reviewed by the Secretariat to ensure that it complies with basic informational requirements. The Secretariat may seek clarifications on numerous issues if the author has failed to give crucial information, such as that outlined at Section 2.1.2(a). Therefore, failure to properly outline the complaint can lead to delays or a decision not to register the complaint. The Secretariat may impose a time limit on the submission of clarifying information,276 but in practice there are no sanctions for non-compliance with such timelines. Nevertheless, it is in the interests of the author to comply with any timelines if possible. Delay will postpone the registration of the case, which delays its consideration by the relevant Committee. Once the Secretariat believes it has sufficient information to proceed, it forwards a summary of the case to the HRC or CAT member serving as the Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Interim Measures. The Special Rapporteur decides whether to register the case or whether to request more information prior to registration. The Special Rapporteur will not register a case if it clearly fails to conform with the admissibility criteria set out in the OP or the CAT.277 273 See, e.g., HRC, Zheikov v. Russian Federation, Comm. No. 889/1999, para. 7.2; Sultanova v. Uzbekistan, Comm. No. 915/2000, para. 7.2. 274 HRC, Agabekov v. Uzbekistan, Comm. No. 1071/2002, para. 7.2. See also, e.g., HRC, Khoroshenko v. Russian Federation, Comm. No. 1304/2004, para. 9.5 and Sections 3.2.16(b) and 4.7.2. 275 Also usually referred to as Petitions Unit or Petitions Team. 276 HRC, Rules of Procedure, Rule 86(2); CAT Committee, Rules of Procedure, Rule 105(2). 277 See “How to Complain about Human Rights Treaty Violations: The Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Description”, para. 2, available at: http://www.bayefsky.com/complain/10_ccpr.php. 90