CAT/C/40/D/301/2006 Page 5 which decided on 28 July 2006 not to grant leave to appeal and, thus, all available domestic remedies were exhausted. 2.13 In April 2005, the complainant participated in a demonstration in Stockholm against the Azeri government. Representatives of the Azeri Embassy took photos of the participants. The complainant’s name is mentioned in articles in the Musavat journal and in the Azeri newspaper Mirze Xezerin. His participation in that demonstration would make his situation in Azerbaijan more difficult. The complaint 3. The complainant alleges that his deportation to Azerbaijan would constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention, as he risks being arrested, torture and killed, in relation to his political activities and his role as an electoral observer during past general elections. It is also possible that he will be considered to be working against the present regime and that he will be regarded as an “enemy of the state”. State party’s observations on the admissibility and the merits 4.1 On 19 February 2007, the State party commented on the admissibility and merits of the communication. It sets out the relevant legislation, pointing out that several provisions reflect the same principle as that laid down in article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The complainant’s case was assessed primarily under the 1989 Aliens Act, including the temporary legislation, but the 2005 Aliens Act was also applied. 4.2 On admissibility, the State party maintains that the complainant’s assertion that he is at risk of being treated in a manner that would amount to a breach of the Convention if deported to Azerbaijan fails to rise to the basic level of substantiation required, for purposes of admissibility. Accordingly, the communication should be declared inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded. 4.3 On the merits and as to the general human rights situation in Azerbaijan, the State party submits that Azerbaijan became a party to the Convention Against Torture in 1996 and has made the declaration under article 22. It has been a member of the Council of Europe (CoE) since January 2001 and is a State party to the European Convention on Human Rights and other major international human rights instruments. The CoE has been monitoring the human rights situation in that country, and some progress has been made. However, the State party admits that although positive results have been achieved, Azerbaijan is still reported as committing numerous human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, beating and torture of individuals in custody, to extract confessions. It concedes that, while it does not wish to underestimate these concerns, they do not in themselves suffice to establish that the return of the complainant would entail a violation of article 3 of the Convention. 4.4 On the interviews conducted by the Migration Board, the State party contends that national authorities are in the best position to assess the information submitted by the complainant and estimate his credibility. As to the quality of the interpretation provide during the interviews, the State party notes that the complainant only contended that the interpretation might have affected the outcome of the interview, but that he had no comments on the quality of interpretation at the end of those interviews. The issue of whether or not the

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