CAT/C/64/D/680/2015 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 3 October 2018 Original: English Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 680/2015*, ** Communication submitted by: G.A. (represented by counsel, John Sweeney) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Australia Date of complaint: 15 May 2015 (initial submission) Date of present decision: 9 August 2018 Subject matters: Risk of torture in the event of deportation to country of origin (non-refoulement); prevention of torture Procedural issue: Admissibility — manifestly unfounded Substantive issue: Deportation of the complainant from Australia to Pakistan Articles of the Convention: 3 and 22 1.1 The complainant is G.A., a national of Pakistan born in 1977. The complainant, whose application for refugee status has been rejected by Australia, claims that if Australia proceeds with his deportation to Pakistan it would violate its obligations under article 3 of the Convention. The complainant is represented by counsel. 1.2 On 19 May 2015, pursuant to rule 114 of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, asked the State party not to expel the author while the complaint was being considered. On 31 March 2016, the State party requested the Committee to lift its request for interim measures. On 29 December 2016, the Committee, acting through the same Rapporteur, decided to lift the interim measures. The facts as presented by the complainant 2.1 G.A., a Sunni Muslim, was born on 12 February 1977 in Koza Bandai village in the Swat District of Pakistan. He is married with five children. In 1997, the complainant opened a music store in the village of Derai, in the Swat Valley. In 1999, he started working for a sea shipping company. He would work on a ship for periods of up to one year and then come back to his village for a few months. In his absence, his brothers helped him * Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-fourth session (23 July–10 August 2018). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Essadia Belmir, Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Jens Modvig, Ana Racu, Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Sébastien Touzé, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov and Honghong Zhang. GE.18-16387(E) 

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