3.3 Medical certificates prepared by the Centre for Torture and Trauma Survivors in Stockholm show scar tissue consistent with the author’s claims of torture and ill-treatment, as well as signs of a distinct post traumatic stress disorder. 3.4 The author asks the Committee to request Sweden, pursuant to rule 108, paragraph 9, of the rules of procedure, not to return her to Zaire while her communication is under consideration by the Committee. State party’s observations 4. On 28 February 1996, the Committee, through its Special Rapporteur, transmitted the communication to the State party for comments and requested the State party not to expel the author while her communication was under consideration by the Committee. 5.1 By submission of 18 April 1996, the State party challenges the admissibility of the communication, but also addresses the merits of the case. It requests the Committee, should it not find the communication inadmissible, to examine the communication on its merits as soon as possible. 5.2 The State party recalls that it was one of the co-sponsors of resolution 1995/69 adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on 8 March 1995 concerning the human rights situation in Zaire c/ and that it is aware of the deplorable situation with regard to human rights in Zaire. However, the State party, while referring to the Special Rapporteur’s report on Zaire, submits that there seems to have been a change for the better since the appointment of Mr. Kengo Wa Dondo as Prime Minister on 14 June 1994. Political prisoners were released and politically motivated detentions declined drastically. In this context, the State party also refers to a report prepared by the Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights concerning problems of Zairian refugee claimants, where it was concluded that it could not be confirmed a priori that expelled Zairian asylum seekers are in danger in Zaire. It was said that each case deserved to be examined on its own merits. 5.3 As regards the domestic procedure, the State party explains that the basic provisions concerning the right of aliens to enter and to remain in Sweden are found in the 1989 Aliens Act. For the determination of refugee status there are normally two instances, the Swedish Immigration Board and the Aliens Appeals Board. In exceptional cases, an application is referred to the Government. Chapter 8, section 1, of the Act corresponds to article 3 of the Convention and states that an alien, who has been refused entry or who shall be expelled, may never be sent to a country where there is firm reason to believe that he or she would be in danger of suffering capital or corporal punishment or of being subjected to torture, nor to a country where he or she is not protected from being sent on to a country where he or she would be in such danger. Further, under chapter 2, section 5, subsection 3, of the Act, an alien, who is to be refused entry or expelled, can apply for a residence permit if the application is based on circumstances that have not previously been examined in the case and if either the alien is entitled to asylum in Sweden or if it will otherwise be in conflict with humanitarian requirements to enforce the decision on refusal of entry or expulsion. 5.4 As regards the admissibility of the communication, the State party argues that the communication is inadmissible as being incompatible with the provisions of the Convention, for lacking the necessary substantiation. -83-