CAT/C/39/D/297/2006
page 15
10.8 The Committee must determine whether there were substantial grounds to believe torture
would occur in the light of the information the authorities of the State party were, or should have
been, aware of at the time of removal. In this case, the Committee notes that all the information
before it, in particular the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) report and the two
pre-removal risk assessments (PRRA), showed that the complainant was suspected of being a
member of BKI, an alleged terrorist organization, and that a number of attacks on Indian political
leaders were attributed to him. The information obtained after removal, i.e., his detention and the
ill-treatment to which he was allegedly subjected during his detention in Gurdaspur, is relevant
only to assess what the State party actually knew, or could have deduced, about the risk of
torture at the time the complainant was expelled.13
10.9 The Committee also notes that, according to various sources and the reports provided by
the complainant, the Indian security and police forces continue to use torture, notably during
questioning and in detention centres, especially against suspected terrorists.
10.10 In the light of the foregoing, and taking account in particular of the fact that the
complainant is allegedly a member of what is regarded as a terrorist organization, and that he
was wanted in his country for attacks on several public figures in Punjab, the Committee
considers that, by the time he was returned, the complainant had provided sufficient evidence to
show that he personally ran a real and foreseeable risk of being subjected to torture were he to be
returned to his country of origin. The Committee therefore concludes that, under the
circumstances, the complainant’s removal to India constituted a violation of article 3 of the
Convention.
10.11 As regards non-compliance with the Committee’s requests of 14 and 30 June 2006 to
suspend removal, the Committee recalls that the State party, by ratifying the Convention and
voluntarily accepting the Committee’s competence under article 22, undertook to cooperate with
the Committee in good faith in applying and giving full effect to the procedure of individual
complaints established thereunder. The Committee also notes that the State party’s obligations
include observance of the rules adopted by the Committee, which are inseparable from the
Convention, including rule 108 of the rules of procedure, which is specifically intended to give
meaning and scope to articles 3 and 22 of the Convention.14 Consequently the Committee
considers that, by sending the complainant back to India despite the Committee’s repeated
requests for interim measures, the State party has committed a breach of its obligations under
articles 3 and 22 of the Convention.
13
See Agiza v. Sweden, communication No. 233/2003, Views of 20 May 2005, para. 13.2; and
Tebourski v. France, communication No. 300/2006, Views of 1 May 2007, para. 8.1.
14
See Dar v. Norway, communication No. 249/2004, Views of 11 May 2007, para. 16.3; and
Tebourski v. France, communication No. 300/2006, Views of 1 May 2007, para. 8.6.