CAT/C/32/D/214/2002 Page 14 membership, punishable under German law, as well as the documentation and testimony he submitted in support of his claims. 13.5 On the burden of proof, the Committee recalls that it is normally for the complainant to present an arguable case and that the risk of torture must be assessed on grounds that go beyond mere theory and suspicion. Although the risk does not have to meet the test of being highly probable, the Committee considers that the complainant has not provided sufficiently reliable evidence which would justify a shift of the burden of proof to the State party. In particular, it observes that the affidavit by F. S. merely corroborates the complainant’s claim that he was introduced as a “guerilla candidate” at the Halim-Dener-Festival, without proving this claim, his participation in the training camp or PKK membership. Similarly, the letter dated 16 February 2003 of the International Association for Human Rights of the Kurds, while stating that it was not implausible that the complainant had temporarily been exempted from military PKK training in Turkey, falls short of proving these claims. In the absence of a prima facie case for his participation in the PKK training camp, the Committee concludes that the complainant cannot reasonably claim the benefit of the doubt regarding these claims. Moreover, the Committee observes that it is not competent to pronounce itself on the standard of proof applied by German tribunals. 13.6 With regard to the complainant’s conviction for participation in a highway blockade by PKK sympathizers in March 1994, the Committee considers that, even if the Turkish authorities knew about these events, such participation does not amount to the type of activity which would appear to make the complainant particularly vulnerable to the risk of being subjected to torture upon return to Turkey. 13.7 Regarding the complainant’s allegation that he was tortured during police arrest in Mazgirt (Turkey), the Committee observes that these allegations refer to events dating from 1989 and thus to events which did not occur in the recent past.4 In addition, the complainant has not submitted any medical evidence which would confirm possible after-effects or otherwise support his claim that he was tortured by Turkish police. 13.8 The Committee emphasizes that considerable weight must be attached to the findings of fact by the German authorities and courts and notes that proceedings are still pending before the Frankfurt Administrative Court with regard to his application to reopen asylum proceedings. However, taking into account that the Higher Administrative Court of Hessen dismissed the complainant’s first asylum application by a final decision,the complainant’s fresh claims relating to his alleged participation in a PKK training camp have not been sufficiently corroborated (see para. 13.5) to justify further postponing the Committee’s decision on his complaint, pending the outcome of the proceedings before the Frankfurt Administrative Court. In this regard, the Committee notes that both parties have requested the Committee to make a final determination on the complaint (see paras. 11.7 and 12.2) and emphasizes that the complainant exhausted domestic remedies in the proceedings for interim relief and that only this part of the second set of asylum proceedings had suspensive effect. 4 See CAT, General Comment 1: Implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of article 22, 21 November 1997, at para. 8 (b).