CAT/C/63/D/750/2016 findings, as it can make a free assessment of the information available to it in accordance with article 22 (4) of the Convention, taking into account all the circumstances relevant to each case.21 8.5 The Committee notes that the State party itself has recognized the legitimate concern that can be expressed regarding the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Committee recalls that, in her most recent report (A/HRC/34/65), dated 17 March 2017, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran shows that the legislation of the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to authorize punishments such as flogging, blinding, amputation and stoning of individuals convicted of certain offences. 22 The report stresses that the Government rejects the notion that amputations and floggings amount to torture and maintains that they are effective deterrents to criminal activity.23 8.6 The Committee takes note of the State party’s submission that the complainant has not held any leading position within the political opposition or in any anti-regime organization in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It also notes the State party’s argument that, due to the vast number of Iranians in exile who take part in protests and online activities, Iranian authorities cannot monitor all of their online activities. However, it also observes that recent reports and its own jurisprudence show that low-level opposition is also closely monitored in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 24 Those reports also indicate that the Government continues to sentence individuals for the legitimate exercise of their rights to free expression and opinion. 25 The Committee notes that the authenticity of the court judgment or the summons that was received by the complainant were never questioned by the State party. Since the complainant has already been convicted in the Islamic Republic of Iran in absentia and sentenced to 8 years in prison for insulting the Islamic Republic and the regime’s holiness, and for acting as instigator and for disrupting the public’s mindset, the Committee assumes that the complainant is currently wanted by the Iranian authorities for his 2012 conviction and will be detained upon arrival to the Islamic Republic of Iran. 8.7 In assessing the risk of torture in the present case, the Committee notes the complainant’s claim that: (a) he is of Kurdish ethnic minority; 26 (b) he took part in political activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran first as part of the Green Movement, and later as a member of the Worker-Communist Party of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has a history of family members being persecuted and executed for their political views; (c) he was arrested and later convicted in absentia for his political activities; (d) he left the Islamic Republic of Iran illegally after his conviction; and (e) he had openly voiced his views against the current regime and State religion in the Islamic Republic of Iran through his books, which are still freely available for download on the Internet, and social media posts, which is prohibited and punished by law and in practice by the Iranian authorities, including by types of punishment that constitute torture. 8.8 In the light of all those circumstances, including the general human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the personal situation of the complainant, who continues his active engagement in political activities against the Iranian regime abroad, his prior conviction and the Committee’s jurisprudence,27 the Committee is of the opinion that the 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 See general comment No. 4 (2017) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of article 22, para. 50. In para. 84 of the report, the Special Rapporteur claims that the Iranian authorities charge political dissidents and journalists with moharebeh, which can be punished with death, crucifixion, amputation or banishment. Ibid., para. 29. Ibid., paras. 51–52. See also, Abed Azizi v. Switzerland (CAT/C/53/D/492/2012), para. 8.6; and K.N., F.W. and S.N. v. Switzerland (CAT/C/52/D/481/2011), para. 7.7. Ibid., para. 51. According to the Special Rapporteur, violations of the rights of ethnic minorities continue to be reported in the country. Kurdish political prisoners are said to represent almost half of the total number of political prisoners in the country. Almost one fifth of the executions carried out in Iran in 2016 concerned Kurdish prisoners. See A/HRC/34/65, para. 79. See, inter alia, Azizi v. Switzerland, para. 8.8; Tahmuresi v. Switzerland (CAT/C/53/D/489/2012), para. 7.7; and Amini v. Denmark (CAT/C/45/D/339/2008), para. 9.8. 9