CCPR/C/119/D/2613/2015 2.11 In July 2012, the author requested permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which was rejected on 21 January 2015. On 9 June 2015, the author’s application for judicial review of that decision was dismissed by the Federal Court. 2.12 On 20 April 2015, a third negative pre-removal risk assessment decision was adopted by a new officer, who again found that the author had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that he would be subject to a risk of torture, risk to life or a risk of cruel and “unusual” punishment upon return to El Salvador. The author filed an application for judicial review of the third decision, which was dismissed on 24 September 2015. 13 2.13 On 28 May 2015, the Federal Court rejected a motion for a stay of execution of the removal, brought under applications for judicial review of a negative pre-removal risk assessment and a negative humanitarian and compassionate decision. 14 The complaint 3.1 The author claims that, if he is returned to El Salvador, he will face a risk of being arbitrarily deprived of his life, in violation of article 6 of the Covenant, and of being subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant, since he has been a target of the MS-13 gang since 1993 owing to his participation in the investigation of his brother Manuel’s murder, which resulted in the conviction of three MS-13 gang members involved in the murder. 3.2 The author alleges that the threats have continued since he left El Salvador. He claims that his wife has faced extensive threats of violence and extortion, that his daughters have been harassed and threatened on their way to school and that the family had to move from their home out of fear.15 He submits that his return to El Salvador would put him and his family in great danger. He refers to the supporting documentation he provided to conclude that it is common for the MS-13 gang to continue targeting an individual for many years.16 3.3 The author provides a statement from the Salvadoran police officer who has been in charge of protecting the author’s family and who would be in charge of protecting him in case of return, that the police do not have the capacity to offer due protection to the family and that their lives and physical integrity would be under threat if the author returns to El Salvador.17 3.4 The author further alleges that extensive country documentation demonstrates the continued problems of violence by the MS-13 gang and the inability of the Government to protect its people from that violence.18 The author asserts that the violence in El Salvador largely stems from warring gangs, including MS-13, one of the most violent, which has more than “70,000 operatives”.19 He submits that, between 2012 and 2013, the homicide rate in El Salvador was 41.2 per 100,000 inhabitants 20 and that, according to the Associated 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 4 See Jose Henry Monge Contreras v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Docket: IMM-2226-15; Federal Court order (24 September 2015) (judicial review decision of the third pre-removal risk assessment decision). See Jose Henry Monge Contreras v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Docket: IMM-650-14; IMM-2226-15; Federal Court order (28 May 2015) (stay of removal decision). The author provides letters from a school director and from his wife and police reports to support this statement. The author refers to, for example, the affidavit of Thomas Boerman, 19 October 2010, para. 19, included in the 2010 pre-removal risk assessment application. The author includes a copy of the statement dated 30 September 2010 by the police officer responsible for the case, stating that “being that [the victim and witness protection programme] only involves the obligation of each beneficiary to report the various locations to which he or she is going to move upon leaving the family home, so that a search for him/her is more effective in the case of his or her disappearance, it is not possible to provide the due protection”. Various reports were annexed to the author’s pre-removal risk assessment requests. Source not provided. See United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Study on Homicide 2013: Trends, Context, Data (Vienna, March 2014), pp. 47-48, tab 3.