CAT/C/56/D/565/2013
allegations. For example, the evidence submitted to the Federal Office for Migration,
such as the articles relating to the hijacking, has no probative value, since at the very
most it confirms that the articles were published, but that does not in any way establish
what the consequences were for the authors. Similarly, with regard to the medical
certificates produced by the applicants, the national authorities noted that they have very
little probative value.
4.12 The State party further explains that, according to the police reports drafted in
connection with the episodes of domestic violence at the complainants’ home, one of the
causes of the violence was the fact that V.P. was visiting Russian dating sites. This
finding is not consistent with the complainants’ statements that they wished at all costs
to keep their whereabouts unknown and that, consequently, they cannot contact their
relatives in the Russian Federation. In addition, V.P. told the police that he wished to
return to the Russian Federation, which is difficult to reconcile with the fear of ill treatment upon return. In view of the foregoing, the State party fully endorses the
reasons given by the Federal Office for Migration and the Federal Administrative Court
concerning the lack of credibility of the authors’ allegations. The authors’ assertions that
they would risk being subjected to torture if returned to the Russian Federation do not
seem to be based on real events and are insufficiently substantiated. Before the
Committee the complainants essentially repeat their story, without making it any more
plausible.
4.13 The two new medical certificates submitted by the authors to the Committee,
drawn up in Switzerland and dated 23 October and 1 November 2013, are unlikely to
bring into question the findings of the national authorities, insofar as they certify that the
complainants had psychological problems but give no evidence of what caused them.
The complainants have therefore produced no new evidence proving their actual
persecution by the Russian authorities. Yet in view of their allegations, the national
authorities had every right to expect them to do so. The complainants claim that their
home was set on fire, that a friend was murdered and that gunshots were fired at th em.
They also claim that they have been arrested on two occasions and have filed a
complaint with the Russian public prosecutor ’s office, to which the office allegedly
replied. It is therefore hard to believe that the complainants are unable to furnish
documentary evidence of these events, since they relate, on the one hand — with regard
to their correspondence with the public prosecutor ’s office — to official acts which are
generally well documented and, on the other hand, to events that should have been
reported in the press.
4.14 The State party also underlines that S.A.P.’s state of health is not a relevant
criterion in determining whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the
complainants risk being subjected to torture if deported. Accordingly, the comments on
the health of S.A.P. are purely for information purposes. Moreover, according to the
Committee’s jurisprudence, the aggravation of an individual’s physical or mental state of
health due to deportation is generally insufficient, in the absence of other factors, to
amount to degrading treatment in violation of article 16 of the Convention. 3 As noted by
the Federal Administrative Court, the complainants’ problems can be treated in the
Russian Federation. The State party has therefore concluded that there is no indication of
any substantial grounds for fearing that the authors would be specifically and personally
at risk of torture if returned to the Russian Federation. Their allegations and the evidence
provided do not support the conclusion that deporting the complainants would expose
them to a real, specific and personal risk of being subjected to torture. Therefore, the
deportation of S.A.P., V.P. and their children to the Russian Federation would not
constitute a violation of the State party’s international obligations under article 3 of the
Convention.
__________________
3
GE.16-01900
Cf. for example A.A.C. v. Sweden, communication No. 227/2003, para. 7.3.
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