CAT/C/59/D/666/2015 8.9 Regarding the complainant’s claim that he risks being subjected to torture upon return to Sri Lanka owing to his status as a failed asylum seeker of Tamil ethnicity and to his illegal departure from Sri Lanka, the Committee, while not underestimating the concerns that may legitimately be expressed with respect to the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka and its treatment of, inter alia, failed asylum seekers from overseas, recalls that the occurrence of human rights violations in his or her country of origin is not sufficient in itself to conclude that a complainant runs a personal risk of torture. 13 The Committee observes that the updated UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum Seekers from Sri Lanka, issued on 21 December 2012, no longer refer to a presumption of eligibility for protection of Sri Lankans simply on the grounds that they are Tamils originating from the north of the country, even though they do caution that a merits-based assessment on the basis of individual circumstances is still warranted and that Tamil ethnicity and place of origin can still be factors that increase the vulnerability of persons within other “risk profiles” whose protection claims warrant particularly close attention. The existence of a general risk of violence does not constitute a sufficient ground for determining that a particular person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon return to that country; additional grounds must exist to show that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. 8.10 In this context, the Committee refers to its consideration in 2016 of the fifth periodic report of Sri Lanka, 14 when it voiced serious concern about reports suggesting that abductions, torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by State security forces in Sri Lanka, including the police, had continued in many parts of the country after the conflict with LTTE ended in May 2009.15 The Committee was also concerned at the reprisals against victims of and witnesses to acts of torture and at the acts of abduction and torture in unacknowledged detention facilities, and inquired whether a prompt, impartial and effective investigation of any such acts had been undertaken.16 8.11 In the present case, the complainant is a Tamil originating from the eastern part of the country, who has not established the existence of additional grounds to show that he is at a foreseeable, real and personal risk of torture if returned to Sri Lanka. The issues relating to human rights violations of returned asylum seekers have also been considered by all domestic processes, including the protection visa application process and the Refugee Review Tribunal. In addition, the Committee notes that, in its assessment of the complainant’s asylum application, the State party’s authorities also considered the possible risk of ill-treatment of failed asylum seekers upon return to Sri Lanka. In the light of these considerations, the Committee is of the view that, in the present case, the State party’s authorities gave appropriate consideration to the complainant’s present claim. 8.12 The Committee also notes the complainant’s claim that while in Australia, he became easily identifiable as an ongoing supporter of the Tamil National Alliance candidate for Batticaloa District, S.Y. The Committee notes, however, the objection by the State party to the effect that the complainant has not substantiated his claims regarding his activities since arriving in Australia. It further notes that according to the State party’s authorities, the material evidence presented 17 did not raise the complainant’s profile to one of significance to the Sri Lankan authorities or embassies abroad, nor did it provide 13 14 15 16 17 See, for example, communication No. 426/2010, R.D. v. Switzerland, decision adopted on 8 November 2013, para. 9.2. See CAT/C/SR.1472 and 1475. See CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4, para. 6. See CAT/C/SR.1472, paras. 36 and 42; and CAT/C/SR.1475, paras. 10 and 27. The photograph of the Member of Parliament together with the complainant and other persons, and the country information. 9