CAT/C/58/D/595/2014 return to Sri Lanka. In assessing that risk, the Committee must take into account all relevant considerations, pursuant to article 3 (2) of the Convention, including the existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights. The Committee remains seriously concerned about the continued and consistent allegations of widespread use of torture and of other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment perpetrated by State actors, both the military and the police, which have continued in many parts of the country since the conflict ended in May 2009.7 However, the Committee recalls that the aim of such determinations is to establish whether the individual concerned would be personally at a foreseeable and real risk of being subjected to torture in the country to which he or she would return; additional grounds must be adduced to show that the individual concerned would be at risk personally.8 9.4 The Committee recalls its general comment No. 1, in which it is stated that “the risk of torture must be assessed on grounds that go beyond mere theory or suspicion. However, the risk does not have to meet the test of being highly probable”, but it must be “personal and present”. In that regard, in previous decisions, the Committee has determined that the risk of torture must be foreseeable, real and personal. The Committee recalls that under the terms of general comment No. 1, it gives considerable weight to findings of fact that are made by organs of the State party concerned, while at the same time it is not bound by such findings and instead has the power, provided by article 22 (4) of the Convention, of free assessment of the facts based upon the full set of circumstances in every case. In that context, the Committee refers to its concluding observations following its 2011 examination of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Sri Lanka, 9 in which it expressed serious concern about reports suggesting that torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by State actors in Sri Lanka — both the military and the police — had continued in many parts of the country after the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had ended in May 2009.10 The Committee also refers to its concluding observations following its 2013 examination of the fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in which it noted evidence that some Sri Lankan Tamils had been victims of torture and ill-treatment following their forced or voluntary removal from the State party to Sri Lanka.11 The Committee further refers to the preliminary observations and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment following his joint official visit to Sri Lanka with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, from 29 April to 7 May 2016, wherein it was noted that “torture is a common practice” and that “the current legal framework and the lack of reform within the structures of the armed forces, police, Attorney-General’s Office and judiciary perpetuate the real risk that the practice of torture will continue”.12 The Committee also takes note of credible reports published by nongovernmental organizations concerning the treatment given by the Sri Lankan authorities to individuals returned to Sri Lanka.13 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 8 See CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4, para. 6. See communications No. 282/2005, S.P.A. v. Canada, decision adopted on 7 November 2006; No. 333/2007, T.I. v. Canada, decision adopted on 15 November 2010; and No. 344/2008, A.M.A. v. Switzerland, decision adopted on 12 November 2010. See CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4. Ibid., para. 6. See CAT/C/GBR/CO/5, para. 20. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19943&LangID=E. Freedom from Torture, “Tainted peace: torture in Sri Lanka since May 2009”, August 2015, available from www.freedomfromtorture.org/sites/default/files/documents/sl_report_a4_-_final-f-b-web.pdf; and Yasmin Sooka, The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, and The International Truth and Justice Project, Sri Lanka, “An unfinished war: torture and sexual violence in Sri Lanka