that the “author’s continued presence in Canada represents a danger to the public”. The Committee, however is not convinced that an extension of his stay in Canada for a few more months would have been contrary to the public interest. In this regard, the Committee refers to a case before the European Court of Human Rights (Chapel v. United Kingdom) in which the Court maintained that scrutiny of the claim “must be carried out without regard to what the person may have done to warrant expulsion or to any perceived threat to the national security of the expelling State”. 15.7 The Committee against Torture, acting under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, concludes that the author’s removal to India by the State party does not constitute a breach of article 3 of the Convention. Appendix Individual opinion (dissenting) of Committee member Guibril Camara Under rule 108, paragraph 9, of its rules of procedure, the Committee against Torture may take steps to avoid a violation of the Convention and, therefore, an irreparable damage. This provision is a logical attribute of the competence bestowed on the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning which the State party has made a declaration. By invoking article 22, the author of a communication submits an enforceable decision to the Committee’s judgement, with due regard to the requirement for the exhaustion of domestic remedies. Therefore, if such decision is enforced despite the Committee’s request for suspension, the State party renders article 22 meaningless. This particular case is basically a matter of lack of respect, if not for the letter, then at any rate for the spirit of article 22. 15.4 On the merits of the communication, the Committee notes that the author has been living in India for more than two years. During this time, although he claims to have been harassed and threatened, along with his family, on several occasions by the police, it seems that there has been no change in the manner in which he has been treated by the authorities. In these circumstances, and given the substantial period of time that has elapsed since the author’s removal, giving ample time for the fears of the author to have been realized, the Committee cannot but conclude that his allegations were unfounded. Moreover, it is clear from the terms of article 3 of the Convention that the time to assess whether “there are substantial grounds for believing that [the author] would be in danger of being subjected to torture” is at the moment of expulsion, return or extradition. The facts clearly show that, at the time of his expulsion to India, there were substantial grounds for believing that the author would be subjected to torture. The State party therefore violated article 3 of the Convention in acting to expel the author. 15.5 The Committee is of the opinion that after a period of nearly two and a half years, it is unlikely that the author is still at risk of being subjected to acts of torture. 15.6 The Committee considers that the State party, in ratifying the Convention and voluntarily accepting the Committee’s competence under article 22, undertook to cooperate with it in good faith in applying the procedure. Compliance with the provisional measures called for by the Committee in cases it considers reasonable is essential in order to protect the person in question from irreparable harm, which could, moreover, nullify the end result of the proceedings before the Committee. The Committee is deeply concerned by the fact that the State party did not accede to its request for interim measures under rule 108, paragraph 3, of its rules of procedure and removed the author to India. Lastly, the fact that in this case the author was not subsequently subjected to torture has no bearing on whether the State party violated the Convention in expelling him. The question of whether the risk—in this case, of acts of torture—actually materializes is of relevance only to any reparation or damages sought by the victim or by other persons entitled to claim. The competence of the Committee against Torture should also be exercised in the interests of prevention. In cases relating to article 3, it would surely be unreasonable to wait for a violation to occur before taking note of it. 61