CAT/C/61/D/687/2015
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
8 September 2017
Original: English
Committee against Torture
Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the
Convention, concerning communication No. 687/2015*, **
Submitted by:
Z.A.H. (represented by counsel, Rajwinder S.
Bhambi)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Canada
Date of complaint:
22 June 2015 (initial submission)
Date of present decision:
11 August 2017
Subject matter:
Deportation to Pakistan
Procedural issues:
Exhaustion of domestic remedies; nonsubstantiation of claims; incompatibility rationae
materiae
Substantive issue:
Non-refoulement
Article of the Convention:
3
1.1
The complainant is Z.A.H., a national of Pakistan, who is a Sunni Muslim, born on 3
November 1969. 1 He is currently in Canada and is subject to deportation to Pakistan
following the rejection on 11 December 2013 of his application for refugee status. He
claims that his deportation to Pakistan would constitute a violation by Canada of article 3 of
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. He is represented by counsel, Rajwinder S. Bhambi.
1.2 On 23 June 2015, pursuant to rule 114 (1) of its rules of procedure (CAT/C/3/Rev.6),
the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures,
requested the State party to refrain from returning the complainant to Pakistan while his
complaint was being considered by the Committee. On 30 June 2016, the Committee,
acting through the same Rapporteur, denied the State party’s request of 7 January 2016 to
lift interim measures.
* Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-first session (24 July-11 August 2017).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
1
Essadia Belmir, Alessio Bruni, Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Jens
Modvig, Ana Racu, Sébastien Touzé and Kening Zhang.
While the complainant claims that he is a moderate Sunni Muslim, in page 13 of his submission he
asserts that he belongs to “the minority Shia sect of Islam”.
GE.17-15701(E)