CAT/C/59/D/549/2013 and publicly condemned his torture. The Association burundaise pour la protection des droits humains (APRODH), in a report and radio interview in May 2007, referred to the torture of the complainant and the injuries resulting from his ill-treatment that representatives of the Association were able to observe for themselves during their visit. In addition, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited him on four occasions. The United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi2 and representatives of the United Nations Office in Burundi observed during their visit in May 2007 that the complainant had been tortured. The Independent Expert raised the matter with the Minister of Justice of Burundi in May 2007. In addition, the Inter-Parliamentary Union adopted a resolution on 21 October 2009 referring to the complainant’s case. 2.7 On 24 July 2007, the complainant was released on bail. According to information provided orally to his lawyer, the proceedings against the complainant for attempted murder were discontinued for lack of evidence. To date, despite the lawyer’s requests to the public prosecutor at Bujumbura city hall, no reasons have been given for the discontinuance of proceedings.3 2.8 After his release, the complainant had to go into hiding because police officers were actively searching for him and paying visits to his home, and the leader of the Communal Council had put up a wanted poster offering a reward.4 2.9 In January 2008, as the persecution intensified, the complainant fled to South Africa, where he applied for asylum. On 9 November 2009, he, his wife and their four children were granted refugee status in South Africa. 2.10 On 15 November 2012, the complainant’s lawyer re-lodged the complaint for torture with the public prosecutor at Bujumbura city hall, but no action was taken in response to this new initiative. The complainant maintains that he attempted to invoke the available domestic remedies but that these proved ineffective and unreasonably prolonged. He further maintains that it was dangerous and impossible for him to take any other steps because of the intensive surveillance of his home before he was forced into exile. The complaint 3.1 The complainant claims that the State party violated his rights under articles 2 (1), 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, read in conjunction with article 1, and, alternatively, with article 16 of the Convention, and article 16, read alone. Intelligence officers intentionally inflicted acute pain and suffering on him in an effort to make him confess. He maintains that the abuses he suffered constitute acts of torture, as defined in article 1 of the Convention. 3.2 The complainant adds that the State party has not taken the necessary measures, legislative or otherwise, to prevent the practice of torture in Burundi, as required under article 2 (1) of the Convention. The torture of the complainant has gone unpunished. 3.3 The Burundian authorities did not properly monitor the treatment of the complainant during his detention on the premises of the National Intelligence Service, his detention 2 3 4 GE.17-01070 Letter of the independent expert, Akich Okola, addressed to the complainant and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mentioning that he had visited the complainant in May 2007 and noting that the complainant faced an imminent risk of torture if he was returned to Burundi. This letter was included in the complainant’s file supporting his application for refugee status in South Africa. The case file includes a copy of the letter from the complainant’s lawyer at the time, dated 13 February 2012, to the public prosecutor at Bujumbura city hall, requesting a copy of the reasons for the discontinuance of the proceedings. The complainant gives no specific reasons for his persecution. 3