CAT/C/60/D/701/2015 Advance unedited version
1.1
The complainant is H.K, a Pakistani national of Pashtu ethnicity and Sunni Muslim
faith, born in 1980. He claims that his deportation to Pakistan would constitute a violation
by Australia of article 3 of the Convention. The complainant is represented by counsel, Mr.
Rishi Gulati.
1.2
On 25 September 2015, the Committee acting through its Rapporteur on new
complaints and interim measures, decided to issue a request for interim measures under
rule 114 (1) of the Committee’s rules of procedure and requested the State party not to
return the complainant to Pakistan while the complaint was being considered by the
Committee. On 15 April 2015, the State party requested the Committee to lift its request for
interim measures. On 15 June 2015, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new
complaints and interim measures, denied the State party’s request to lift the interim
measures.
The facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant was born in Quetta and resided there until 2001. From 2001 to
2009 he worked and resided in the United Arab Emirates and Japan. He returned to Quetta
in 2009 and opened a workshop, repairing cars and selling spare parts. He is married and
has two children, born in 2008 and 2011, respectively, whom he has not seen since arriving
in Australia in 2012, which has caused him distress. His extended family lives in Pakistan.
2.2
The complainant has connections with the Balochi community in Pakistan as his
grandmother was of Balochi ethnicity and his aunt’s husband is too. At the time of his
return to Quetta, there was on-going fighting between Pakistani authorities and the Balochi
nationalist movement.1 In February 2012, the complainant visited a friend’s workshop,
which was located close to his workshop. There were also some other men of Balochi
ethnicity present in the shop. The complainant was the only person in the workshop who
was not of Balochi ethnicity. A short time after the complainant had arrived at the shop,
armed men entered and arrested him and his friends. Some of the men were dressed in
uniform, while others wore civilian clothing.
2.3
After the complainant had been arrested, the armed men put a bag over his head and
tied his hands behind his back. He was taken to an unknown place and held in detention for
about ten days, during which he was beaten and not allowed to sleep. He was asked what he
knew of the Balochi nationalist movement. He claims that he was severely beaten three
nights in a row, and that he was punched, slapped and hit with the butt of a gun. He was
asked about a friend, S.A, who worked at the workshop he had visited and who the
authorities believed to be part of a movement striving to form an independent state. The
complainant answered that he did not know anything about S.A. At the end of the ten days
in detention, the authorities told him that they were going to kill him. He begged them to let
him go. They told him that they would spare his life if he became an informer for them
regarding the activities of the Balochi nationalist movement. He agreed in order not to be
killed and after this he was released.
2.4
A few days after his release the authorities called the complainant again. They took
him to an unknown location and asked questions about S.A. They threatened the
1
2
As per the decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal dated 29 January 2013, the Baloch nationalist
movement has culminated in two widespread insurgencies (1973-1977 and 2003 onwards) and three
localized uprisings. It is further noted that most recently tribal militants have been engaged in a longrunning low-intensity armed conflict against the Pakistan army. Some insurgents advocate complete
secession from Pakistan while others demand greater control of the region’s natural resources and
political power.