CAT/C/71/D/896/2018
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
30 August 2021
Original: English
Committee against Torture
Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the
Convention, concerning communication No. 896/2018*, **
Communication submitted by:
T.S. (currently represented by Leijen & Nandoe
Advocaten; previous counsel, Anton Hol)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Netherlands
Date of complaint:
2 November 2018 (initial submission)
Document references:
Decision taken pursuant to rule 115 of the
Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to
the State party on 13 November 2018 (not issued
in document form)
Date of present decision:
19 July 2021
Subject matter:
Deportation to Sri Lanka
Procedural issue:
None
Substantive issue:
Risk of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, if deported to country
of origin (non-refoulement)
Article of the Convention:
3
1.1
The complainant is T.S., a national of Sri Lanka born in 1987. His requests for asylum
in the Netherlands were rejected, and he risks forcible removal to Sri Lanka. The complainant
asserts that, if the Netherlands were to proceed with his deportation, it would violate its
obligations under article 3 of the Convention. The State party has made the declaration
pursuant to article 22 (1) of the Convention, effective from 20 January 1989. The complainant
is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 13 November 2018, pursuant to rule 114 (1) of its rules of procedure, the
Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, asked
that the State party not deport the complainant to Sri Lanka while the communication was
being considered by the Committee.
Facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant, a national of Sri Lanka of Tamil ethnicity, was born in the district
of Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. In 1995, the complainant fled to Kilinochchi, a town
* Adopted by the Committee at its seventy-first session (12–30 July 2021).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Essadia Belmir, Claude Heller, Erdoğan İşcan, Liu Huawen, Ilvija Pūce, Ana Racu, Diego RodríguezPinzón, Sébastien Touzé, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov and Peter Vedel Kessing.
GE.21-11971(E)