party that the complainant was removed from Australia on 21 June 1999. The
Secretary-General’s note verbale was received by the Permanent Mission of Australia
when the complainant had allegedly already been deported to Sri Lanka.
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
On 9 September 1997, the complainant arrived in Australia without a passport
or other identification papers. On 15 September 1997, he applied for refugee status
(protection visa) to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. His
application was rejected on 25 September 1997. The decision not to grant a
protection visa was confirmed by the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) on 30 October
1997, after conducting a hearing, where a legal adviser and an interpreter assisted the
complainant. Upon decision of the Federal Court of 13 May 1998, the matter was
referred back to the RRT for re-determination. On 20 August 1998, the Tribunal
decided again not to grant a protection visa, after hearing the complainant. On 3
February 1999, the federal Court dismissed the complainant’s appeal against the
second RRT decision. An appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was dismissed
on 14 May 1999. On 3 November 1997, 20 August 1998 and 18 June 1999, his case
was considered not to satisfy the requirements for granting a visa to remain in
Australia on humanitarian grounds. Counsel submits that all effective domestic
remedies have been exhausted.
2.2
Counsel submits that the complainant lived in Nuwara Eliya, an area in the
south of Sri Lanka. In 1989, when fighting broke out between the pro-Sinhalese
movement Janatha Vimurthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Government in the Nuwara
Eliya area, the complainant was arrested and detained for six to seven months in the
Diyatalawa Army Camp on suspicion of being a member of JVP. During this time,
the complainant was allegedly questioned and subjected to torture by army officers.
The complainant’s father paid a large amount of money to secure his release.
2.3
From 1992 to 1995, members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), friends of his wife’s family, visited frequently and the complainant was
obliged to provide food and accommodation. On the last occasion, in October 1995,
several members of the LTTE came to stay with his family for 15 days. During this
time, the oil tanks in Kolonawa, Colombo, were bombed and the police believed that
the people staying with the complainant’s family had been involved. The complainant
was allegedly taken to the police station in Nuwara Eliya, interrogated and tortured. It
is submitted that the complainant had only been released after three days upon
payment of a large amount of money to the police officer in charge.
2.4
In February 1996, the LTTE accused the complainant of providing the
Government with information on the oil tank attack. Counsel submits that the
complainant was beaten and threatened with death. After intervention by his family
and his wife, he was spared.
2.5
Towards the end of February 1996, the complainant was arrested by the police
and taken to Diyathalawa Army Camp, detained for three days, and allegedly tortured.
Counsel submits that the father of the complainant paid a large amount of money for
his release. Immediately after his release, the complainant fled Nuwara Eliya for fear
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