case and if either the alien is entitled to asylum in
Sweden or it will otherwise be in conflict with
humanitarian requirements to enforce the decision
on refusal of entry or expulsion.
6.3 The State party further recalls the terrorist
character of Shining Path and contends that crimes
committed in the name of that organization should
not constitute a reason for granting asylum. The
State party refers in this context to article 1 F. of the
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
5.3 As regards the facts of the author’s story, the
State party emphasizes that he was able to leave his
country with a valid passport, issued after the police
allegedly were looking for him. The author has never
claimed to have bribed officials into giving him a
passport, indicating, according to the State party,
that the author was not being sought by the police
when he legally left the country in June 1990.
Further, the State party emphasizes that according to
the author’s own statements, he was never arrested,
detained, prosecuted or sentenced for his activities
for Shining Path. The only time he was arrested, in
April 1989, he was released after 24 hours without
having been tortured.
6.4 The State party refers to its own legislation,
which reflects the same principle as that of article 3
of the Convention. The State party’s authorities thus
apply the same test as the Committee in deciding on
the return of a person to his or her country. The State
party recalls that the mere possibility of a person
being subjected to torture in his or her country of
origin does not suffice to prohibit his or her return as
being incompatible with article 3 of the Convention.
6.5 The State party explains its reasons for
concluding that there are no substantial grounds for
believing that the author would personally be at risk
of being subjected to torture upon his return to Peru.
It recalls that the author has been arrested only once,
in April 1989 and was released after 24 hours, and
that there are no indications that he was subjected to
torture. Further, the author was able to obtain a valid
passport and to use it to leave Peru. It appears that he
is not wanted by the police for terrorist or other acts.
There is no indication that his activities for Shining
Path are known to the authorities. Moreover, the
State party argues that even someone wanted by the
police for criminal acts does not necessarily risk
being subjected to torture. According to the State
party’s sources, such a person will be arrested at the
airport upon arrival, transported to a detention centre
and placed under the supervision of a public
prosecutor. The State party submits that the risk of
torture in a detention centre is very limited. Finally,
the State party explains that the author is free to
leave Sweden at any time to a country of his choice.
5.4 The State party explains that the Government,
when deciding that the author should not be granted
asylum in Sweden, also took into account whether
the enforcement of the expulsion order would violate
chapter 8, section 1, of the Aliens Act. The
Government, after having carefully examined all
elements of the author’s case, concluded that it
would not.
5.5 The State party argues that the communication
is inadmissible as incompatible with the provisions
of the Convention, for lacking the necessary
substantiation.
6.1 On the merits of the communication, the State
party refers to the Committee’s jurisprudence in the
case of Mutombo v. Switzerland, and the criteria
established by the Committee, first, that a person
must personally be at risk of being subjected to
torture and, second, that such torture must be a
necessary and foreseeable consequence of the return
of the person to his or her country.
6.6 With reference to the arguments summarized
above, the State party argues that no sufficient
evidence exists to demonstrate that the risk of the
author being tortured is a foreseeable and necessary
consequence of his return.
6.2 As regards the general situation of human
rights in Peru, the State party, aware of the
information collected by international human rights
organizations, submits that political violence in the
country has decreased. The State party further
submits that a number of refugee claimants,
allegedly members of Shining Path, have been
deported to Peru from Sweden and that no
substantiated reports of torture or ill-treatment of
those persons upon their return to Peru exist. In this
connection, the State party points out that its
embassy in Lima has been in contact with some of
the deportees and that no incidents have been
reported. The State party argues that the author will
not be in a worse situation than that of those who
were deported earlier. The State party notes that no
consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights exists in Peru.
Counsel’s comments
7.1 In her comments on the State party’s
submission, counsel challenges the State party’s
interpretation of article 1 F. of the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees and argues that the
author’s membership of Shining Path does not
suffice to exclude him from the protection of that
Convention.
7.2 As regards the general situation of human
rights in Peru, counsel refers to the United States
Department of State Country Report on Human
Rights Practices for 1995, which states that torture
and brutal treatment of detainees are common and
that Government security forces still routinely
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