believing that these persons would be at risk of being subjected to torture, is in itself a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.”131 98. As illustrated through the cases of Canadian citizen Maher Arar, rendered to Syria (following the sharing of intelligence information by Canadian authorities) and of Abdul-Hakim Belhaj, rendered to Libya (following the provision of information by UK authorities), the provision of information by State authorities can equally violate States’ obligations until Article 3, by facilitating transfers exposing individuals to torture or other ill-treatment.132 99. Certain recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar133 are applicable to other States parties and, we believe, should be endorsed by the Committee. The Committee should urge States parties to ensure that whenever they provide information to other States, they do so in accordance with clearly established policies concerning screening for relevance, reliability and accuracy and with relevant laws in place concerning personal information and human rights and ensuring accountability (Recommendation 8). Further, informationsharing practices and arrangements should be subject to review by an independent, arms-length review body (Recommendation 10). In particular, the Committee should endorse Recommendation 14, that information should never be provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk that it will cause or contribute to the use of torture and that policies should include specific directions aimed at eliminating any possible complicity in torture, avoiding the risk of other human rights abuses and ensuring accountability.134 Recommended Textual addition: Non-refoulement obligations arise whenever States parties know or ought to know of the risk of transferring a person from their jurisdiction, in whatever manner, including when carried out by third parties (e.g. operatives of other states or private individuals) which they know or ought to know would expose the concerned individual to a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment, whether the risk emanates from States or non-state actors. States Parties must take all necessary measures to prevent refoulement, including concrete measures to prevent third parties (be they State or non-State) from subjecting individuals under their jurisdiction to kidnappings and involuntary transfer from their territory, and must not assist in any way other States or other third parties who plan to render or otherwise forcibly transfer individuals to a country where they would face a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment. 131 CAT, Concluding Observations: Portugal, UN Doc. CAT/C/PRT/CO/5-6, 23 Dec. 2013, para 13. See also, CAT, Concluding Observations: Canada, UN Doc. CAT/C/CAN/CO/6, 25 June 2012, para.16. 133 Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar ‘Report of the Events Relating to Maher Arar: Analysis and Recommendations’, 2006, Available at: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CP32-88-1-2006E-AR.pdf 134 Ibid, Recommendation 14. 132 43 AI Index: IOR 40/6040/2017