CAT/C/60/D/623/2014
10.8 Regarding the death of the complainant’s cousin, the Committee notes that the
complainant has provided no information as to the specific role of his cousin within LTTE
and no details of how he was killed, and, most importantly, whether any member of the
cousin’s family, or the complainant himself before leaving the country, had any problems
because of his cousin’s LTTE activities. As for his participation in the LTTE-organized
sports activities in the Netherlands, the Committee notes that even if the Sri Lankan
authorities will be able to identify him from untagged Facebook pictures, those events were
of a non-political nature and do not of themselves make of the complainant a significant
LTTE supporter. In the light of the foregoing, the Committee concludes that even if the
complainant is checked at the airport on account of the emergency passport or his scars,
there is no evidence that he has the profile of an LTTE supporter which would put him in
personal risk of torture by the authorities.
10.9 The Committee recalls that according to its general comment No. 1, the burden of
presenting an arguable case lies with the complainant. In the Committee’s opinion, in the
present case, the complainant has not discharged this burden of proof.14
11.
On the basis of the above, and in the light of the material before it, the Committee
considers that the complainant has not provided sufficient evidence to enable it to conclude
that his forcible removal to his country of origin would expose him to a foreseeable, real
and personal risk of torture within the meaning of article 3 of the Convention.
12.
The Committee, acting under article 22 (7) of the Convention, decides that the
complainant’s removal to Sri Lanka by the State party would not constitute a breach of
article 3 of the Convention.
14
8
See communication No. 429/2010, Sivagnanaratnam v. Denmark, decision adopted on 11 November
2013, paras. 10.5 and 10.6.