non-refoulement obligations under the Convention enjoin them from acting or failing to act – whether deliberately or otherwise – in any way that would result in constructive refoulement, thereby exposing the individuals concerned to a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment. ix) Paragraphs 15 and 16 25. In light of our comments above, and our proposal that a new paragraph 8bis be inserted, we recommend the deletion of both paragraph 15 and paragraph 16 of the draft as currently formulated. x) Paragraph 17 26. We note that the wording of paragraph 17 in the draft General Comment, that “severe pain or suffering cannot objectively be measured,” strongly implies that only the victim can legitimately determine whether his or her pain or suffering was severe. While clearly pain and suffering have subjective elements, “severe pain or suffering” are key elements of the definition of torture in Article 1(1) of the Convention. Therefore, the above-cited statement risks implying that courts, human rights bodies, or other official institutions, including the Committee itself, would be incapable of determining whether or not a person has been tortured. Furthermore, the term “violent acts”, as used in this section of the draft, may be understood as being restricted exclusively to physical acts. The guidance value of the paragraph would thus be enhanced by mentioning the cumulative effect of ill-treatment, which is seldom limited to a single method. In light of the above, we recommend the following textual changes to paragraph 17. Recommended textual change: 17. “The Committee considers that severe the qualification of pain or suffering as severe cannot objectively be measured. It depends on the negative physical or mental repercussions that the infliction of violent abusive acts has on each individual, taking into account all relevant circumstances of each case, including the duration of the treatment, the cumulative effect of such acts, the physical and/or mental effects, the sex, gender, age and state of health and vulnerability of the victim. It is therefore well-nigh impossible to determine in advance whether the pain or suffering that would result from exposing an individual to certain forms of ill-treatment through involuntary transfer would be severe or not.” Insertion of a new paragraph, paragraph 17bis 27. We note that the draft does not include guidance or recommendations regarding the need to put in place measures to avoid the re-victimization of survivors of torture or other ill-treatment in the course of administrative and judicial proceedings that could lead to involuntary transfer. Ensuring that survivors be protected against re-victimization during such proceedings is a fundamental principle underlined by this Committee in its dialogue with States parties, as well as in its General Comment 3 13 AI Index: IOR 40/6040/2017