State party states that the comment was made in the context of a decision review hearing in which it was the officer’s duty to raise concerns about the potential risk that the author would flee, but she was not commenting nor had she sufficient information to determine the level of risk run by the author in case of return. asserts that the recent prosecutions against police officers are not indicative of a real change in the respect for human rights and constitutional guarantees. Finally, it states that the persons who are in danger are those who are still part of active nationalist groups or who refuse demands imposed by the State, including police pressure to become an informant, which, the author observes, is exactly what happened in his case. The author also refers to the Response to Information request from the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board prepared for the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service on the situation in Punjab in 1997, indicating that despite a general improvement over the years and “although militants and close affiliates of militants are the key category of individuals at risk, political activists and also human rights activists may also have well founded fears of persecution in India.”8 11.12 Finally, the State party underlines that the evidence of risk that the author could face when returning to India has been carefully reviewed by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and that the risk has been deemed minimal. That assessment was confirmed by the Federal Court Trial Division. It is submitted that the Committee should give considerable weight to the findings of the Minister and the Court. 11.13 For the above reasons, the State party is of the opinion that there is no element showing that the author would be put at risk of torture should he return to India. 12.4 In the light of the above, the author draws the attention of the Committee to the inconsistency of the State party in its assessment of the risk run by the author of being subjected to torture in India. The author argues that when deciding that the author would be denied refugee status, the Canadian authorities portrayed him as a high-profile militant terrorist and Sikh nationalist. However, when considering the author’s return to India and the risks he would run, the State party no longer portrayed him as such. Author’s merits comments 12.1 In a submission dated 11 June 1998, the author argues that the assessment made by the State party of the human rights situation in India on the basis of the documentation submitted to the Committee 6 is misleading. The State party cites remarks out of context but fails to mention information from the same sources which confirm that abuses continue to occur. 12.5 Regarding the risk of being subjected to torture, it is noted that ascertaining a risk of torture in the future does not require evidence of torture in the past, particularly since the author has not been in India since his imprisonment in Pakistan. At this stage, the only evidence of risk available is the author’s niece’s affidavit. As was underlined by the author, although there was no evidence of actual torture, the affidavit should be considered as demonstrating the risk of such treatment. Moreover, the fact that there is no legal basis to arrest the author at present is of even more concern since the human rights record of India is filled with examples of extrajudicial behaviour. 12.2 The author also draws the attention of the Committee to the fact that one of the supporting documents referred to by the State party states: “I began by asking if someone who had fled India during the early 1990s, at the height of the troubles, would have reason to fear returning to Punjab now. I also asked if it was possible for someone on the run to hide within an existing community of Sikhs in a city or region outside the Punjab. The answer to both these questions, and a constant theme of the interview, was that only the highest profile fugitives, which they said would number a handful, would have reason to fear, or to be pursued outside the Punjab.”7 The author also draws attention to the fact that these comments were made prior to the elections of February 1997, before the human rights situation degenerated. 12.6 The author further insists on the similarity between his case and that of Gurvinder Singh, referred to in the initial communication. The latter was tried with eight other persons and acquitted of a 1984 hijacking of a plane travelling from India to Pakistan. He was later shot at the border with Pakistan while he was trying to return to India. The author was tried with four others for a 1981 hijacking. In all, 14 persons have been labelled by Indian authorities as terrorists and have consistently been linked together, regardless of the differences 12.3 To support his statements on the current human rights situation in Punjab, the author refers to information from the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board in Ottawa which reports that torture in custody remains a problem in India, and particularly in Punjab. Moreover, it 6 United States State Department, op. cit.; Human Rights World Report 1997. 7 See supra, note 3. 8 Documents IND26992.E of the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board in Ottawa, p. 3. 58