CAT/C/37/D/282/2005** Page 7 authorities. The State party shares the finding of the IRB that it is “practically impossible to leave Iran through the Tehran airport if a person is sought by the Iranian authorities. It is also almost impossible to obtain false passports because of the many check-ups conducted before getting on the plane”. The complainant has not submitted any evidence that would be capable of casting doubt on this finding. 4.8 With regard to the delay in seeking refugee protection, the complainant traveled for two months through Colombia, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Jamaica and Mexico, before coming to Canada and filing a refugee claim. The delay in making a refugee claim detracts from her credibility. Under domestic and international refugee law jurisprudence, a delay in filing a refugee claim is a relevant factor to be taken into account in assessing whether the complainant has a subjective and objective fear of persecution. 4.9 With regard to the existence of a summons, although the refugee claim was made in September 2001, the complainant failed to present documentary evidence to corroborate her claim before it was heard in November 2002. Although she was in telephone contact with her family, she did not tell the IRB if there was an arrest warrant out in her name, and it was not until her claim was rejected that she submitted, as part of her PRRA application, a “summons” dated 22 December 2003. It is implausible that a summons would be issued more than two years after the complainant’s alleged escape from detention. If the authorities had been looking for her since her escape, it is implausible that her family would have simply destroyed the other notices of summons as their letters claim, nor even mentioned the existence of the notices during their phone conversations with her. The State party thus shares the PRRA officer’s findings about the minimal probative weight of the purported summons. In addition, there is no evidence or allegation that any member of her family was detained or mistreated. With regard to the existence of an arrest warrant, the State party emphasizes that there is no such warrant despite the complainant’s claims. 4.10 As far as the medical evidence is concerned, the complainant produced a medical report dated 22 June 2005 in support of her PRRA application. The PRRA Officer did not consider the report to be probative of future risk, because the physician’s opinion was based on his/her consideration of the complainant’s Personal Information Form and a clinical interview. The existence of scars does not, by itself, establish that the complainant had been a victim of torture in the past or would face a substantial risk of torture in the future. In the light of the complainant’s overall lack of credibility and the implausibility of central aspects of her claim, particularly since it is unsupported by other independent and reliable evidence, the alleged cause of the scarring is implausible. Most significantly, the scarring, while perhaps evidence of past torture is insufficient to substantiate that the complainant would be at risk of torture in the future. 4.11 Finally, although the State party concedes that the general human rights situation in Iran is poor and deteriorating, it notes that because the country to which the complainant would be returned is Iran does not by itself constitute sufficient grounds for determining that she would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon her return6. Complainant’s comments on the State party’s observations on admissibility and merits 6 The State party refers, inter alia, to Communication No. 256/2004, M.Z. v. Sweden, Views adopted on 12 May 2006, paragraph 9.6.