CAT/C/68/D/718/2015 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 26 December 2019 Original: English Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 718/2015*, ** Communication submitted by: S.P. (represented by Companion House) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Australia Date of complaint: 18 November 2015 (initial submission) Document references: Decision taken pursuant to rules 114 and 115 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to the State party on 2 December 2015 (not issued in document form) Date of adoption of decision: 22 November 2019 Subject matter: Deportation to Sri Lanka Procedural issue: Admissibility – manifestly ill-founded Substantive issue: Risk of torture in the event of deportation to country of origin (non-refoulement) Article of the Convention: 3 1.1. The complainant is S.P., a national of Sri Lanka born in 1985. His request for asylum in Australia was rejected and he risked forcible removal to Sri Lanka. The complainant asserts that if Australia were to proceed with his deportation, it would violate its obligations under article 3 of the Convention. The State party made the declaration under article 22 (1) of the Convention on 28 January 1993. The complainant is represented by counsel. 1.2 On 2 December 2015, pursuant to rule 114, paragraph 1, of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, requested the State party not to deport the complainant to Sri Lanka while the communication was being considered by the Committee. On 19 December 2016, the Committee granted the request of the State party to lift the interim measures. In August 2017, the State party removed the complainant to Sri Lanka. The 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. From May to October 2009, the complainant lived * 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: Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Jens Modvig, Ana Racu, Diego RodríguezPinzón, Sébastien Touzé and Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov. GE.19-22536(E) *1922536*

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