CAT/C/48/D/413/2010 especially the FDN, have taken some steps to prosecute the perpetrators of human rights abuses, most individuals have acted with impunity. 11 4.5 The State party adds that since 2005 a new Constitution has been in force, establishing terms by which the two ethnic groups will share power and recognizing fundamental human rights for all Burundians. The Constitution guarantees a multiparty system and freedom of speech and the press. Also in 2005 general elections were held and the National Council for the Defence of Democracy – Forces for the Defence of Democracy (Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD-FDD) became the ruling party. In April 2009, the FNL was formally transformed to a political party. With the disarmament of the FNL movement and its accreditation as a political party, any acts of violence by them are now treated as crimes and the number of abuses attributed to them has declined. 12 Impunity remains prevalent and justice, which is not granted in the courts, “tends to be claimed in the streets”.13 The State party submits that the said assessment is the essence of how the situation in Burundi is described in the reports referred to by the complainant before the Committee (see para. 3.1 above). 4.6 The State party states that while it does not wish to underestimate the concerns that may legitimately be expressed with respect to the current human rights situation in Burundi, there can be no doubt that the circumstances referred to in the above-mentioned reports do not in themselves suffice to establish that the complainant’s forced return to Burundi would entail a violation of article 3 of the Convention. The Committee, therefore, should determine the complainant’s personal risk of being subjected to torture, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, following her removal to Burundi. 4.7 The State party submits that the Swedish migration authorities and courts apply the same test in assessing the risk of being subjected to torture when considering an asylum application under the Aliens Act as the Committee would apply when examining a subsequent communication under the Convention. 14 The State party adds that it must be appreciated that the national authorities are in a very good position to assess the information submitted by an asylum seeker and to appraise his or her statements and claims in view of the fact that they have the benefit of direct contact with the asylum seeker concerned. In light of the above, the State party contends that great weight must be attached to the assessment made by the Swedish migration authorities. 4.8 Concerning the assessments of the credibility of the complainant’s statements, the State party relies mainly on the reasoning contained in the decision of the Migration Board, which has had two interviews and face-to-face contact with the complainant. In addition, the State party considers it pertinent to emphasize that there exist extensive credibility gaps in the details that the complainant has presented to the migration authorities and the Committee. The Migration Board has maintained throughout the proceedings in the present case that the complainant is the same person as the one who presented the application for a visa to the Swedish embassy in Algiers in 2006, and this is expressed both in its decision to reject the complainant’s asylum application and in its observations to the Migration Court 11 12 13 14 8 Reference is made to the 2008 “Human rights report: Burundi” by the United States Department of State and section 1 of the 2007 “Country report on human rights practices in Burundi” presented by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Reference is made to the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights and the activities of her office in Burundi (A/HRC/12/43), para. 22. Ibid., para. 68. Reference is made to chapter 4, sections 1 and 2, of the Act and the Committee’s general comment No. 1 (1996) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/53/44 and Corr.1), annex IX).

Select target paragraph3