OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
67
carries out the monitoring must outweigh any remote risk of bias that might
arise from Mr Rababa’s family ties.
204. Although the precise nature of the relationship between the Centre
and its subsidiary, the National Team to Combat Torture, is unclear, it
would appear that the NTCT is fully staffed and has the necessary
interdisciplinary expertise to draw on for monitoring (see Mr Layden’s first
statement at paragraph 87 above). The Court would expect that, whatever
allegations have been made as to the composition of the NTCT, the
applicant would be visited by a delegation which included medical and
psychiatric personnel who were capable of detecting physical or
psychological signs of ill-treatment (see paragraph 4(d) of the terms of
reference for the Centre, quoted at paragraph 81 above). There is every
reason to expect that the delegation would be given private access to the
applicant (paragraph 4(c) of the terms of reference, ibid.). It would clearly
be in the applicant’s interest to meet the delegation according to the
pre-arranged timetable and thus the Court considers it is implausible that the
GID, in order to escape monitoring, would tell the delegation that the
applicant did not wish to see them. In the event that the delegation were to
receive such a response, the Court considers that this would be precisely the
kind of situation that would result in the “rapidly escalating diplomatic and
Ministerial contacts and reactions” foreseen by Mr Oakden in his evidence
to SIAC (see paragraph 30 above). For these reasons, the Court is satisfied
that, despite its limitations, the Adaleh Centre would be capable of verifying
that the assurances were respected.
205. For the foregoing reasons the Court concludes that, on the basis of
the evidence before it, the applicant’s return to Jordan would not expose
him to a real risk of ill-treatment.
206. Finally, in the course of the written proceedings, a question was put
to the parties as to whether the applicant was at risk of a sentence of life
imprisonment without parole and, if so, whether this would be compatible
with Article 3 of the Convention. The parties agreed there was no such risk
as life sentences in Jordan ordinarily last twenty years. The applicant also
accepted that the length of his sentence could be examined in the context of
his Article 6 complaint. The Court agrees with the parties and considers
that, in the applicant’s case, no issue would arise under Article 3 in respect
of the length of any sentence which may be imposed on him in Jordan.
207. Accordingly, the Court finds that the applicant’s deportation to
Jordan would not be in violation of Article 3 of the Convention.
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 TAKEN
CONJUNCTION WITH ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION
IN
208. The applicant complained that it was incompatible with Article 3
taken in conjunction with Article 13 of the Convention for SIAC, in order to
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