CAT/C/55/D/553/2013
Annex
Decision of the Committee against Torture under article 22 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (fifty-fifth session)
concerning
Communication No. 553/2013*
Submitted by:
X represented by Track Impunity Always
(TRIAL)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Burundi
Date of communication:
10 May 2013 (initial submission)
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Meeting on 10 August 2015,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 553/2013 submitted on
behalf of X under article 22 of the Convention,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the
complainant, his counsel and the State party,
Adopts the following:
Decision under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention
1.1 The complainant is X, born in 1974 in Burundi. He claims to be a victim of a
violation of articles 2 (para. 1), 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, read in conjunction with article
1 or, alternatively, with article 16 of the Convention. The complainant is represented
by counsel.
1.2 On 17 June 2013, in accordance with rule 114, paragraph 1, of its rules of
procedure, the Committee requested the State party to adopt effective measures,
throughout the duration of the Committee’s consideration of the complaint, to prevent
any threats or any acts of violence to which the complainant or his family might be
exposed, in particular as a result of having lodged the present complaint.
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1 When the facts occurred, X was a senior sergeant major in the national army of
Burundi and was working at a military camp in Bujumbura (run by the military
police). On 29 January 2010, at about 4.45 p.m., he went to the central market in
Bujumbura. When he arrived at the market, he met three of his friends — B.N., E.E.
and O.M., all of whom were non-commissioned officers. The three men proposed a
foot race to one of the beaches on the shores of Lake Tangan yika, next to the port of
* The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the present
communication: Essadia Belmir, Alessio Bruni, Satyabhoosun Gupt Domah, Abdoulaye Gaye,
Claudio Grossman, Jens Modvig, Sapana Pradhan-Malla, George Tugushi and Kening Zhang.
2/16
GE.15-16736