CAT/C/56/D/562/2013
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-sixth session)
concerning
Communication No. 562/2013*
Submitted by:
J.K.
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Canada
Date of complaint:
29 September 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 23 November 2015,
Having concluded its consideration of complaint No. 562/2013, submitted to it by
J.K. under article 22 of the Convention,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the complainant
and the State party,
Adopts the following:
Decision under article 22 (7) of the Convention
1.1
The complainant is J.K., a national of Uganda born on 1 August 1979 and residing
in Canada. He is not represented by counsel. He claims that his extradition to Uganda
would constitute a violation by Canada of article 3 of the Convention. The Convention
entered into force for Canada on 24 June 1987.
1.2
On 2 October 2013, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, requested the State party not to extradite the author
to Uganda while the complaint was being considered.
Facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
Since he was a teenager, the complainant has known that he is gay. In 2004, his
parents forced him to marry a woman in order to dispel the rumours that he was gay. The
complainant states that he did not wish to be in a relationship with a woman, and that the
marriage therefore lasted only three years.
2.2
After separating from his wife, the complainant was taken to a meeting of the Gay
and Lesbian Association by one of its members, R.M. He joined the Association in October
* The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the present
communication: Essadia Belmir, Alessio Bruni, Satyabhoosun Gupt Domah, Abdoulaye Gaye,
Jens Modvig, Sapana Pradhan-Malla, George Tugushi and Kening Zhang.
2