CAT/C/62/D/710/2015 Additional submission by the complainant 9.1 On 19 October 2017, the complainant submitted to the Committee the copy of a letter from Gibril Ibrahim Mohamed, the President of JEM, dated 11 October 2017. This letter, which was addressed to the immigration services of the State party, confirms that the claimant has been a member of the executive body of JEM-Switzerland and of the organization since 2008. It adds that the complainant’s life would be in danger if he returned to the Sudan and recalls that JEM is identified as the main opponent of Omar Al Bashir’s regime. It calls on the State party’s authorities to respond positively to the complainant’s application for asylum. 9.2 The complainant also refers to a report of the United Kingdom Home Office and the Danish Immigration Service on the situation of persons from Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Khartoum, according to which those returning from abroad with a political profile may be questioned extensively and/or detained at the airport. According to the complainant, this statement demonstrates that Sudanese nationals returning from abroad, particularly JEM members, are strictly monitored and immediately detained and questioned at the airport upon their return.21 Issues and proceedings before the Committee Consideration on the merits 10.1 In accordance with article 22 (4) of the Convention, the Committee has considered the present communication in the light of all information made available to it by the parties concerned. 10.2 The issue before the Committee is whether the removal of the complainant to the Sudan would constitute a violation of the State party’s obligation under article 3 of the Convention not to expel or to return a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture. In assessing this risk, the Committee must take into account all relevant considerations, pursuant to article 3 (2) of the Convention, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights. However, the Committee recalls that the aim of such determination is to establish whether the individual concerned would be personally at a foreseeable and real risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which he or she would return. The existence of a pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country therefore does not as such constitute sufficient reason for determining that a particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture on return to that country, and additional grounds must be adduced to show that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. Conversely, the absence of a consistent pattern of flagrant violations of human rights does not mean that a person might not be subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances. 22 10.3 The Committee recalls its general comment No. 1 (1997) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of article 22, according to which the risk of torture must be assessed on grounds that go beyond mere theory or suspicion. While the risk does not have to meet the test of being highly probable, 23 the Committee recalls that the burden of proof generally falls on the complainant, who must present an arguable case that he or she faces a “foreseeable, real and personal” risk.24 The Committee further recalls that, in accordance with its general comment No. 1, it gives considerable weight to findings of fact that are made by the organs of the State party concerned, while at the same time it is not bound by such findings and instead has the power, under article 22 (4) of the 21 22 23 24 GE.18-01489 Sudan: Situation of Persons from Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Khartoum, the United Kingdom Home Office and the Danish Immigration Service, August 2016. See S.P.A. v. Canada (CAT/C/37/D/282/2005); T.I. v. Canada (CAT/C/45/D/333/2007); and A.M.A. v. Switzerland (CAT/C/45/D/344/2008). See footnote 11. Ibid. See also A.R. v. The Netherlands (CAT/C/31/D/203/2002), para. 7.3. 11