upon return to Algeria and that, therefore, Australia would be violating article 3 of the Convention if he were returned there. He claims that he fears prosecution in Algeria on account of his political opinions and membership of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). He also fears having to serve in the Algerian army, and claims that members of his family were accused by the Algerian authorities of supporting armed Islamic groups. As a consequence he and other members of his family were targeted by the Algerian army. 3.2It is submitted that the complainant is personally at risk of being subjected to torture because of his support of the FIS and his close family relationship with several people who have been targeted because of their membership of the FIS and, in some cases, their history of standing as FIS candidates. 3.3Finally, it is submitted that the complainant is personally at risk of being subjected to torture due to the publication of the decision of the Federal Court. The decision provides personal details and family details, his claims, and the process of his application for protection in Australia. The complainant claims that such publication rendered him personally at risk if he is forcibly returned to Algeria because of the probability that the Algerian authorities are aware of the published decision and of the details of his application for protection. 3.4The author argues that Algeria remains an authoritarian State with a consistently poor record of gross and flagrant human rights abuses. It is submitted that those detained on national security grounds in Algeria are routinely subjected to torture, and the reports of several organizations are invoked in support of this argument. This evidence is said to establish “substantial grounds” for believing that the complainant would be in danger of being subjected to torture on return to Algeria. 3.5The complainant seeks a finding that his expulsion from Australia, in circumstances where he does not have the right to return or go to any other country except Algeria, constitutes a violation of article 3 of the Convention. The State party’s submission on the admissibility and merits of the complaint 4.1On 14 November 2000, the State party submitted its observations on the admissibility and merits of the case. It explains that it was unable to comply with the Committee’s request for interim measures of protection because no written request from the Committee had been received by the time of the complainant’s removal from Australia on 26 January 2000. The State party adds that UNHCR’s office in Australia was notified of the complainant’s imminent removal and did not object, and that all potential risks of return had been fully assessed based on available country information. 4.2For the State party, the complaint is inadmissible as incompatible with the provisions of the Convention. Further, the State party alleges that the complainant has failed to make out a prima facie case that there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be subjected to torture, on the event of his return to Algeria. The State party adds that the complainant has failed to disclose any reasonable basis for his belief that he is at risk of torture. 4.3The State party observed that there is no evidence that Algerian authorities have ever tortured the complainant in the past, and evidence that he has actually been involved in the political activities of the FIS is very scant. It argues that the account of the complainant’s activities contains many inconsistencies, which casts doubts on his credibility. On the strength of the evidence, the State party does not accept that the complainant is an FIS supporter. 4.4On the possibility that the complainant may be required to undergo military service upon his return to Algeria, the State party argues that the complainant was unlikely to be required to undergo further military service either because he has already completed the service, or because he is too old to be drafted into military service. The State party states that, in any event, any requirement to perform military service does not constitute torture. In addition, the State party invokes the Refugee Review Tribunal’s (RRT) finding that the complainant has fabricated his claim to have outstanding military service obligations. The RRT stated that the complainant had exaggerated his claims in comparison to when he first raised them on arrival in Australia. 4.5As to the publication of the judgement of the Federal Court of Australia, the State party denies that this might prompt the Algerian authorities to torture the complainant upon his return to Algeria. There is no evidence to suggest that the Algerian authorities have shown any interest in the complainant’s activities since 1992, when he claims to have been arrested and detained for 45 minutes. The State party notes that the suggestion that the Algerian authorities would be scanning Internet legal databases in Australia to determine his whereabouts strains credulity. For the State party, it is highly unlikely that the publication, on Internet, to refuse him a protection visa would have come to the Algerian authorities’ attention. Accordingly, there are no substantial grounds for believing that the complainant is in danger of torture on this count. 4.6The State party concedes that DIMA had noted that the author’s relatives who had experienced harm or mistreatment had been active members of the FIS or Islamic clerics, but on his own evidence, the complainant was neither of these, and had not attracted the attention of the authorities, except once in 1992, when he claimed to have been detained for 45 minutes. Further, the State party cites the RRT’s finding that the complainant was able to depart from Algeria on three occasions and to return twice without any problems. This indicates that the complainant does not attract the authorities’ attention. 4.7Moreover, the State party claims that during the hearing, the complainant admitted that none of his immediate family had problems with the authorities (with the exception of his brother-in-law, in 1995), and that he personally had had no problems since his detention in 1992. This again indicates that the complainant does not attract adverse attention from the authorities. 4.8The State party observes that the complainant has a general fear of harm as a result of civil conflict in Algeria; this fear however is not sufficient to bring him under the Convention’s protection. The State party adds that the Minister of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs considered information received from the French and United Kingdom authorities to the effect that they were unaware of any instance in which a person returning to Algeria from those countries had met with violence upon return. The State party also refers to recent reports that indicate that the human rights situation in Algeria has improved.