CAT/C/68/D/855/2017 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 24 December 2019 Original: English Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 855/2017*, ** Communication submitted by: Susith Wasitha Ranawaka (represented by counsel, Michaela Byers) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Australia Date of complaint: 20 November 2017 (initial submission) Document references: Decision taken pursuant to rule 115 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to the State party on 30 November 2017 (not issued in document form) Date of adoption of decision: 5 December 2019 Subject matter: Risk of torture in the event of deportation to country of origin (non-refoulement); prevention of torture Procedural issue: Admissibility – manifestly ill-founded Substantive issue: Deportation of the complainant to Sri Lanka Articles of the Convention: 3 and 22 1. The complainant is Susith Wasitha Ranawaka, a national of Sri Lanka born on 16 September 1977. He was born in Matara, Southern Province, and is of Sinhalese ethnicity and Buddhist faith. His asylum application in Australia was rejected, and he is subject to a deportation order to Sri Lanka. He claims to face a risk of torture upon return to Sri Lanka, in violation of article 3 of the Convention. The State party has made the declaration pursuant to article 22 (1) of the Convention, effective from 28 January 1993. The complainant is represented by counsel. The facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1 From 2003 to 2012, he worked in factory management for the Henegama Akuressa Tea Cooperative in Sri Lanka. His uncle, Bandu Ranawaka, had influence in the cooperatives, as he was a Chairperson of the National Cooperative Development Board and the National Cooperative Council. The complainant, his father and his uncle, Bandu had been militants of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party. By 2004, the Sri Lankan Freedom Party * Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-eighth session (11 November–6 December 2019). ** 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 and Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov. GE.19-22380(E) 

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