CAT/C/78/D/1052/2021 Advance unedited version Distr.: General 12 December 2023 Original: English Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning Communication No. 1052/2021*, ** Submitted by: H. U. (represented by counsel, Marjaana Laine) Alleged victim(s): The complainant State party: Finland Date of complaint: 27 January 2021 (initial submission) Date of adoption of decision: 17 November 2023 Subject matter: Deportation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo of a person claiming to be at risk of torture Substantive issue(s): Non-refoulement Procedural issue(s): Admissibility; level of substantiation of claims Article(s) of the Convention: 3 1.1 The complainant is H. U., a national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She claims that the State party would violate her rights under article 3 of the Convention if it removed her to the DRC. The State party has made the declaration pursuant to article 22 (1) of the Convention, effective from 30 August 1989. The complainant is represented by counsel. 1.2 On 31 May 2021, pursuant to rule 114 (1) of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, requested the State party not to expel the complainant while the communication was being considered by the Committee. In its submission to the Committee on 4 June 2021 the State party informed that it followed the request. 1.3 On 19 August 2021, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, decided to examine the admissibility of the communication together with its merits. Facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1 The complainant is a Christian woman, citizen of the DRC,. In 2014, she started to work for an NGO focusing on investigation of the State’s responsibility for the disappearances of “kulunas” (violent organized gangs). The investigation included the analysis of links between the State’s response to the “kulunas”, the increasing disappearances * Adopted by the Committee at its seventy-eighth session (30 October–24 November 2023). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Mr. Todd Buchwald, Mr. Claude Heller, Mr. Erdogan Iscan, Mr. Huawen Liu, Ms. Naoko Maeda, Ms. Ilvija Puce, Ms. Ana Racu, Mr. Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov. GE.