CAT/C/21/D/91/1997 page 10 6.4 Reports from reliable sources have over the years documented cases suggesting that a pattern of detention, imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment of persons accused of political opposition activities, including links with the Al-Nahda movement, exist in Tunisia. 6.5 The Committee notes that in the proceedings that followed his first request for asylum the author lied about his identity and his nationality and expressed a number of inconsistencies as to the reasons that prompted his departure from Tunisia. In the Committee’s view, however, these inconsistencies were clarified by the explanations given by the author in his interview with immigration authorities on 24 February 1997, explanations which have not been referred to in the State party’s submission. 6.6 With respect to the medical evidence provided by the author, in the Committee’s view the State party has failed to explain why his claims were considered insufficiently substantial as to warrant a medical examination. 6.7 The author has repeatedly stated that he is not a supporter of the Al-Nahda movement. This fact leads the State party to conclude that the Tunisian authorities would not have interest in him. The Committee notes, however, that the State party does not dispute that the author was tortured while held in police custody as a result of assisting an Al-Nahda member to flee to Algeria and emphasizes the fact that it occurred because of the Al-Nahda association. It also notes that the author escaped from the barracks where he was performing military service. If the author was tortured in the past despite not being an Al-Nahda supporter, he could be tortured again in view of his past history of detention, his assistance of an Al-Nahda member to flee to Algeria and his desertion from the military barracks in Ghafsa. 6.8 In the circumstances, the Committee considers that substantial grounds exist for believing that the author would be in danger of being subjected to torture if returned to Tunisia. 7. In the light of the above, the Committee is of the view that, in the prevailing circumstances, the State party has an obligation, in accordance with article 3 of the Convention, to refrain from forcibly returning the author to Tunisia or to any other country where he runs a real risk of being expelled or returned to Tunisia. [Done in English, French, Russian and Spanish, the English text being the original version.] -----