CAT/C/37/D/227/2003 Page 14 Committee recalls that the aim of such determination is to establish whether the individual concerned would be personally at risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which he would return. It follows that the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country does not as such constitute a sufficient ground for determining that a particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon his return to that country; additional grounds must exist to show that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. Similarly, the absence of a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights does not mean that a person cannot be considered to be in danger of being subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances. 8.3 In assessing the risk of torture in the present case, the Committee has noted the complainant’s submission that he was twice previously tortured in Bangladesh. However, as the State party points out, according to the Committee’s General Comment, previous experience of torture is but one consideration in determining whether a person faces a personal risk of torture upon return to his country of origin; in this regard, the Committee must consider whether or not the torture occurred recently, and in circumstances which are relevant to the prevailing political realities in the country concerned. In the present case, the torture to which the complainant was subjected occurred in 1997 and 1999, which could not be considered recent, as well as in quite different political circumstances, specifically when the BFP, a party the complainant is a member of, was in opposition to the then ruling party, the Awami League. 8.4 The Committee has taken note of the submissions regarding the general human rights situation in Bangladesh and the reports that torture is widespread; however, this finding alone does not establish that the complainant himself faces a personal risk of torture if returned to Bangladesh. The Committee observes that the main reason the complainant fears a personal risk of torture if returned to Bangladesh is that he was previously subjected to torture for his membership in the BFP, and that he risks being imprisoned and tortured upon his return to Bangladesh pursuant to his alleged charges under the Public Safety Act. 8.5 The Committee notes that the complainant and the State party are at considerable odds as to the extent to which the BFP can currently be considered in opposition to the current government. However, the State party’s information on this issue is to the contrary. The Committee recalls that in accordance with its General Comment,14 it is for the complainant to present an arguable case and to establish that he would be in danger of being tortured and that the grounds for so believing are substantial in the way described, and that such danger is personal and present. In the present case, the Committee is not persuaded that the current political situation in Bangladesh, coupled with the low alleged level of responsibility in the BFP, place the complainant at present danger of being tortured on the basis of membership of the BFP in a non-prominent position. 8.6 The Committee also notes that the complainant and the State party disagree with each other over the issue of probability of obtaining a new passport by a person against whom the charges of possession of illegal weapons and subversive activities have been instituted by the police. In the present case, the Committee is not in a position to deliberate on the matter, given the fact that the complainant did not provide any documents proving that these charges 14 Supra n.3.