CAT/C/33/D/163/2000
Page 3
1.3
As it transpired from the State party’s submission dated 30 July 2003, the complainants’
asylum requests were rejected on 6 January 2000. They left Canada on 18 July 2000 after a
removal order was issued against them1 . Ms. Cancino returned to Canada on 8 December 2000
with a work permit. Mr. Saut Villamar returned to Canada on 9 December 2000, without a
residence permit; he did not apply for refugee status and accordingly was sent back to Mexico
the following day. He returned to Canada on 24 October 2001 and applied for refugee status on
new grounds (different from those submitted for in the present communication). On 7 February
2003, the Refugee Determination Division found that he lacked credibility owing to serious
contradictions in his statements, and refused to grant him refugee status. The applicant did not
appeal against this decision2 .
The facts as submitted by the complainants
2.1
In November 1997, the complainants went to live in Tuxla, Las Rosas, Chiapas State,
with Ms. Osorio Cancino’s uncle, Oscar Cancinos, who gave them work in the shop he ran.
Ms. Osorio Cancino worked at the sales counter, while Mr. Saut Villamar worked as a driver.
Oscar Cancinos turned the management of the business over to them after their marriage, on
19 February 1998.
2.2
Oscar Cancinos left the business on 15 March 1998 and went to the capital, but asked the
couple to pay him 15 per cent of each month’s profits, saying that he would come and collect the
money in person. The couple took care of the business, but the wife noticed that certain
individuals in plain clothes were watching them. Fearing that they might be thieves, the couple
requested their staff not to keep large amounts of money in the till, and the husband lodged a
complaint with the police.
2.3
On 20 September 1998, Oscar Cancinos returned with some unknown men, who were
armed. The wife, who was on her own, told him that her husband had gone out shopping and
would be back soon. Oscar Cancinos told the strangers to wait, because the husband was the
only one who knew where the money was. When the husband arrived, one of the men pointed a
gun at him and ordered him out, whereupon Oscar Cancinos struck the man’s hand that was
holding the gun. When the man dropped the gun, Oscar Cancinos seized the opportunity to run
into the house with the other two strangers in pursuit. He managed to escape. The men then
turned on the complainants: one of them pointed his gun at Ms. Osorio Cancino, while the
others are reported to have dealt with Mr. Saut Villamar. Ms. Osorio Cancino managed to
escape, leaving her husband with the strangers.
2.4
Ms. Osorio Cancino went to the home of another uncle, who immediately set off to look
for her husband. On his return, he said that he had found him unconscious in front of the shop
and that he appeared to have been beaten up. He took him to a hospital to be treated and then
1
2
The exact date of the order is not provided.
The State party declares however that Mr. Saut Villamar will not be deported from Canada
without having had an opportunity to request an assessment of the risks involved in returning to
his country.