CAT/C/79/D/1055/2021 17 December 2019 and that, in its view, the claim that he is wanted by the police is also unsubstantiated. 4.17 Consequently, the State party concludes that the complainant has not shown that there is a foreseeable, present, personal and real risk that he would be exposed to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment if returned to Cameroon. The State party therefore invites the Committee to find that the removal of the complainant to Cameroon would not constitute a violation of the international obligations of Switzerland under article 3 of the Convention. Complainant’s comments on the State party’s observations 5.1 On 10 March 2022, the complainant submitted his comments on the State party’s observations. He points out that the human rights situation in Cameroon is generally worrying, as evidenced by Human Rights Watch, which reported in 2019 that the “Cameroonian law enforcement authorities seem happy to torture without an afterthought for the repercussions”.15 The complainant also points out that, in Cameroon, civilians are tried by the military justice system if they are suspected of collaborating with separatists 16 and that the country does not wish to respect its international commitments. 17 5.2 In response to the State party’s argument that there is neither widespread violence nor a state of civil war in Cameroon, the complainant points out that peaceful or stable States are not free from human rights violations or the use of torture. He adds that, in the context of the conflict in the north-west, Cameroon is routinely criticized for violations committed against persons considered to be opponents.18 5.3 The complainant states that, as a member of Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun, he forms part of the opposition targeted by the Cameroonian authorities19 and that, as a senior member of this party, he risks persecution if he returns to the country. The complainant points out that, although the documents submitted are general in scope, they provide information on the Cameroonian State’s treatment of the party’s members.20 He adds that, in addition to his being a defector from Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais, his ethnicity was seen by Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun as a means of securing a foothold in the centre of the country. 5.4 With regard to the argument that he could not have been a victim of torture in Cameroon on the dates indicated, the complainant points out that, where asylum proceedings are concerned, what matters most is the rule of predominant likelihood and not strict proof. In this regard, he points out that it is obvious that a person fleeing his or her country cannot anticipate the evidence that will meet Swiss requirements. He argues that a person’s failure to report to the Swiss embassy in Cameroon on returning to the country cannot be used as evidence that he was absent from Cameroon during the period concerned, as there is no proof that he was in Switzerland during that time either. In support of his claim that he was in Cameroon, the complainant produced two certificates of attendance for training courses held in Yaoundé between October 2018 and January 2019. 5.5 With regard to the factual inconsistencies in his statements, the complainant states that “inconsistencies do not necessarily mean that an allegation is false, instead, inconsistencies might indicate precisely the opposite”.21 He also points out that interpreting inconsistencies 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 GE.24-09258 See https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/20/cameroon-detainees-tortured. See https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Cameroun-pretre-comparait-devant-justice-militaire-2021-0610-1201160461. Voir https://www.la-croix.com/Monde/Au-Cameroun-ONG-etrangeres-pression-2021-08-311201173076. See https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2021/08/13/au-cameroun-la-garde-a-vue-de-rebeccaenonchong-suscite-une-vague-d-indignation_6091354_3212.html. See https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2021/12/28/au-cameroun-47-militants-du-principal-partid-opposition-condamnes-a-de-la-prison-ferme_6107491_3212.html. See https://www.amnesty.ch/fr/pays/afrique/afrique-continent/docs/2020/les-conflits-armes-et-larepression-favorisent-les-violations-des-droits-humains. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, Psychological Evaluation of Torture Allegations: A practical guide to the Istanbul Protocol – for psychologists, 2nd ed. (Copenhagen, 2009), p. 43. 7