CAT/C/30/D/192/2001
page 8
various State bodies, and beatings of persons under interrogation,9 the State party emphasizes
that these facts are mentioned in general and that the Amnesty International report does not show
that the complainants personally ran a particular and serious risk of undergoing ill-treatment in
the event of return to their country. With regard to the situation of Kurds in Syria and the arrests
to which they are subject,10 Amnesty International acknowledges that people have been arrested
not because of their Kurdish origin, but because of their political activities. Thus, according to
the State party, the complainants’ assertion that they risked, in the event of return to Syria, being
ill-treated or tortured because of their Kurdish origin is baseless. Furthermore, the State party
maintains that information in possession of the Swiss Government indicates that a lengthy stay
abroad in connection with an asylum application does not, in and of itself, lead to prosecution on
political grounds or to particular problems on returning to Syria. Thus, referring to the
Committee’s jurisprudence,11 the State party concludes that the condition sine qua non of a
“personal” risk of being subjected to ill-treatment is not present in this case.
4.12 Regarding the particular situation of Mrs. T., the State party observes that throughout the
proceedings only Mr. H. adduced reasons which could substantiate - were they well-founded the view that it would be unacceptable for him to return to Syria. In contrast, there is no claim
that Mrs. T. was politically active in Syria or elsewhere or that she was arrested or ill-treated. In
this connection the State party recalls that article 3 of the Convention does not guarantee, in the
Committee’s practice, family reunion if only one of its members can demonstrate genuine and
serious risk of being subjected to ill-treatment. Accordingly, the State party concludes that the
return of Mrs. T. would in no way violate the Convention.
4.13 Regarding the credibility of the information provided by the complainants, the State party
considers that the many contradictions identified in the complainant’s statements (in particular
regarding his so-called political activities) make them incredible. The State party particularly
wishes to point out that throughout the domestic proceedings the complainants have produced a
number of documents, not of their own accord at the beginning of the proceedings, but only as a
result of negative decisions taken by the Swiss authorities against them. Thus, the complainants
produced the photograph showing them in Geneva in the spring of 2000 only after having
received the CRA decision of 12 April 2001. The same is true of the Syrian security forces
document of 21 August 1998 and the Syrian criminal judgement of 20 May 1999. The State
party maintains that this behaviour suggests that the complainants “produced” certain evidence
only once they had realized that their allegations were not achieving the desired effect on the
competent national authorities.
Complainants’ comments on the State party’s observations
5.1
In a letter dated 23 October 2002 the complainants stated that they have no comments in
addition to those made in their original complaint.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
6.1
Before considering any of the allegations in a communication, the Committee against
Torture must decide whether or not the communication is admissible under article 22 of the
Convention. It has ascertained, as it is required to do under article 22, paragraph 5 (a), of the
Convention, that the same matter has not been and is not being examined under another