CAT/C/60/D/716/2015 Advance unedited version
as a letter written by his father indicating that he was informed that the CID had been
making enquiries about the complainant.
2.8
On 16 May 2013, the complainant appeared before the RRT. During the hearings, the RRT
highlighted the inconsistences of the complainant’s accounts and posed questions to clarify
them. Notably, when asked why he would be perceived as linked to the LTTE since he had
never been detained on suspicion of involvement with the LTTE, he answered that his
family had been question by the authorities several times in 2007 and 2008. When informed
that according to UNHCR, persons were not harmed in Sri Lanka simply because they were
Tamils, he replied that during the civil war Muslims could not do anything to Tamils, but
now they were trying to target Tamils. When informed that reports of torture and other
serious harm against returned asylum seekers, cited in his submission, were related to
returnees who were suspected of being LTTE members or supporters or of having some
involvement in criminal activities, the complainant replied that he would be harmed
because he left his country of origin illegally. At the end of the hearing the RRT informed
the complainant that there were a number of inconsistencies over key elements of his
accounts and invited him to clarify them. The complainant stated that his village was very
small and that information about the situation there never came to the outside world; and
that because he was mentally disturbed he had been unable to provide the correct
information at first. Subsequently, he provided the RRT with a writing submission,
prepared with the assistance of his counsel.
2.9
On 27 June 2013, the RRT dismissed the complainant’s appeal. The RRT stated that it was
not persuaded by the complainant’s explanation about the inconsistencies in his account. In
relation to his alleged mental difficulties and trauma, it noted that he had not produced any
expert opinion in this regard; that he did not claim to have sought any form of counselling
or treatment; and that he actively participated during the hearing and did not show
emotional or mental difficulties. The RRT accepted the complainant’s allegations that his
father was the president of a local Hindu temple or temples and that he might be regarded
as a leader among Tamils in the village since he had been active in rebuilding a temple.
However it stated that relevant country information, including the one cited by the
complainant in his submissions, did not report acts of violence between the Hindu and
Muslim communities. In light of the inconsistencies of the complainant’s accounts, the
RRT concluded that his allegations about the harm caused on him by Muslim gangs or
Muslim members of the CID were not credible.
2.10
Concerning the complainant’s allegations of being perceived with links to the LTTE, the
RRT stated that although it accepted that the complainant and his father might have been
subjected to some level of questioning by the authorities at various times during the civil
war and in its aftermath, there was no evidence of any particular suspicion that they were
involved in any way with the LTTE. It further noted that the complainant did not allege that
he or his family had ever had connection with the LTTE or held political opinions against
the government. In this regard, the RRT referred to information provided within the
proceedings, such as the UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International
Protection Needs of Asylum Seeker from Sri Lanka of July 2010 and December 2012 and
noted that this information did not indicate that a person would be perceived as associated
or linked to the LTTE only due to his/her Tamil origin from the Eastern Province.
2.11
With regard to the alleged risk as a failed asylum seeker, the RRT acknowledged the
information according to which some failed asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka had been
reportedly tortured and ill-treated; and that returnees were routinely interviewed at the
airport on arrival by the Immigration and Emigrant Department, the State Intelligence
Service and the CID. However, the cases reported in which returnees were tortured
involved failed asylum seekers that had a connection or perceived link with the LTTE. It
also referred to information published in 2013 by the Sydney Morning Herald regarding six
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