CAT/C/65/D/761/2016 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 29 January 2019 Original: English Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 761/2016*, ** Communication submitted by: S.H. (represented by counsel, John Sweeney) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Australia Date of complaint: 28 June 2016 (initial submission) Date of present decision: 23 November 2018 Subject matters: Risk of torture in the event of deportation to country of origin (non-refoulement); prevention of torture Procedural issue: Deportation of the complainant from Australia to Sri Lanka Substantive issue: Admissibility – manifestly unfounded Articles of the Convention: 3 and 22 1. The complainant is S.H., a national of Sri Lanka born in 1974. He is facing deportation to Sri Lanka, following the rejection of his application for refugee status in Australia. The complainant asserts that if Australia were to proceed with his deportation, it would violate its obligations under article 3 of the Convention. Australia made the declaration under article 22 of the Convention on 28 January 1993. The complainant is represented by counsel. The facts as presented by the complainant 2.1 The complainant was born in Manthuvil, Mullaitivu, a district controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the internal armed conflict. Before the end of the conflict in 2009, everyone living in that area was expected to undergo training with the Tamil Tigers and to protect the borders of the area they lived in. The complainant bribed his way out of the obligation to protect borders, although he completed a basic self-defence training course lasting two weeks. He also had to assist in organizing any operations of the Tamil Tigers in the area in his capacity as a carpenter. The complainant’s brother went to complete his border protection duty on one occasion. In 2009, his brother was summoned for the second time and managed to escape, and since then his family has not heard from * Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-fifth session (12 November–7 December 2018). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the consideration 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.19-01393(E) 

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