Communication No. 15/1994 Submitted by: Tahir Hussain Khan [represented by counsel] Alleged victim: The author State party concerned: Canada Date of communication: 4 July 1994 The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 15 November 1994, Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 15/1994, submitted to the Committee against Torture by Mr. Tahir Hussain Khan under article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Having taken into account all information made available to it by the author of the communication, his counsel and the State party, Adopts its Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention. 1. The author of the communication, dated 4 July 1994, is Mr. Tahir Hussain Khan, of Kashmiri origin, citizen of Pakistan, currently residing in Montreal, Canada. He claims to be a victim of a violation of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Canada. He is represented by counsel. The facts as submitted by the author: 2.1 The author, who was born on 14 August 1963 in Baltistan, Kashmir, left Pakistan on 1 July 1990, out of fear for his personal security. He arrived in Canada on 15 August 1990 and requested a residence permit on the grounds that he was a refugee. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada heard the author on 14 January 1992 and concluded that the author was not a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Convention. The author’s subsequent motion for leave for judicial review was refused on 17 April 1992 by a judge of the Federal Court. No further effective judicial recourse is said to exist. 2.2 The author’s request to be allowed to stay in Canada for humanitarian reasons was refused by the immigration authorities on 10 May 1994. The author’s removal to Pakistan was ordered to be effectuated on 17 July 1994. 3.1 The author, who is a professional cricket player, is an active member of the Baltistan Student Federation and supports the Baltistan movement to join Kashmir. The Baltistan Student Federation is associated with the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. According to the author, the Baltistan area is historically part of Kashmir but currently claimed by Pakistan as part of Pakistan. He claims that Pakistan has denied the inhabitants of Baltistan their full political rights and that the area is completely militarized. The Pakistani authorities violently repress the movement for civil rights and -45-