Decision
The Committee against Torture, established under Article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
The Committee notes that the State party has raised an objection to admissibility based on the fact that the complainant, in its view, has not substantiated her allegations even on a prima facie basis and that therefore the communication is manifestly unfounded. As to the complainant’s claims under article 16 of the Convention, the Committee notes that no arguments or evidence have been submitted in substantiation of this claim, and therefore the Committee concludes that this claim has not been substantiated for the purposes of admissibility. This part of the communication is thus inadmissible.
The Committee recalls its General Comment No. 1 on article 3, which states that it is to assess whether there are “substantial grounds for believing that the author would be in danger of torture” if returned, and that the risk of torture “must be assessed on grounds that go beyond mere theory or suspicion”. The risk need not be “highly probable”, but it must be “personal and present”. In this regard, in previous decisions the Committee has determined that the risk of torture must be “foreseeable, real and personal”.
The Committee also notes the complainant’s argument that the PRRA, H&C and subsequent judicial review procedures are flawed, as the officer who concluded both procedures deemed that the court summons and proof of the complainant’s employment as a nurse were not “new evidence” which she had to take into account during the PRRA. On this point the Committee considers that the judicial review procedure, while limited to appeal on points of law, did examine whether there were any irregularities in the PRRA and/or H&C determinations.
The Committee notes that the complainant’s arguments, and the evidence to support them, have been presented to the State party’s courts. The Committee reiterates in this regard that it is for the courts of the State parties to the Convention, and not the Committee, to evaluate facts and evidence in a particular case. It is for the appellate courts of States parties to the Convention to examine the conduct of a case, unless it can be ascertained that the manner in which the evidence was evaluated was clearly arbitrary or amounted to a denial of justice, or that the officers had clearly violated their obligations of impartiality. In this case, the material before the Committee does not show that the State party’s review of the complainant’s case suffered from such defects.
The Committee Against Torture, acting under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention, considers that the complainant has not substantiated her claim that she would be subjected to torture upon return to Iran and therefore concludes that the complainant’s removal to that country would not constitute a breach of article 3 of the Convention.