CAT/C/63/D/488/2012
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
11 September 2018
English
Original: French
Committee against Torture
Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the
Convention, concerning Communication No. 488/2012*, **
Submitted by:
L.M. (represented by counsel, Johanne Doyon
and Philippe Larochelle)
Alleged victim:
The complainant
State party:
Canada
Date of complaint:
10 January 2012 (date of initial submission)
Date of present decision:
11 May 2018
Subject matter:
Deportation to Rwanda
Procedural issues:
Failure to substantiate the complaint;
incompatibility ratione materiae
Substantive issue:
Risk of torture
Articles of the Convention:
3 and 22
1.1
The complainant is Mr. L.M., a national of Rwanda. His asylum application was
rejected by Canada, and, at the time of submission of the communication, he was facing
forcible return to Rwanda. He claimed that, by deporting him to Rwanda, Canada would be
in violation of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The complainant is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 11 and 12 January 2012, in application of rule 114 (1) of its rules of procedure,
the Committee against Torture requested the State party to refrain from deporting the
complainant to Rwanda. On 23 January 2012, one of the complainant’s counsel informed
the Committee that the State party had returned the complainant to Rwanda, despite the
Committee’s request for interim measures.
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant is married to a Canadian citizen and is the father of five children,
all of whom are Canadian citizens. At the time of the submission of his complaint, he had
been living in Canada for almost 19 years. He and his family had fled Rwanda in December
1992 and had found temporary refuge in Spain. The complainant was recognized as a
refugee under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and, as such,
* Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-third session (23 April–18 May 2018).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Essadia Belmir, Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Ana Racu, Diego
Rodríguez-Pinzón, Sébastien Touzé, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov and Honghong Zhang.
GE.18-15056 (E)
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