CCPR/C/116/D/2347/2014
1.1
The author of the communication is K.G., a Sri Lankan national born on 1 June
1984. He claims that, by deporting him to Sri Lanka, Denmark would violate his rights
under article 7 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Denmark on
23 March 1976. The author is represented by counsels, Rie Thim Sørensen and Marie
Louise Frederiksen, from the Danish Refugee Council.
1.2
When registering the communication on 10 February 2014, and pursuant to rule 92
of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, requested the State party to refrain from deporting
the author to Sri Lanka while his case was under consideration by the Committee. On 24
February 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board extended the time limit for the author’s and his
child’s departure until further notice, in compliance with the Committee’s request.
Factual background
2.1
The author was born and raised in the village of Badulla, central Sri Lanka. He is of
Tamil ethnicity and Hindu faith. The author has not been a member of any political or
religious organization or been politically active. He used to own two shops in Badulla,
which were run with the help of three employees of Tamil ethnicity.
2.2
The author’s elder sister converted to Christianity from Hinduism, moved to
Denmark and married a Christian man in 2000. The author submits that, after that time, he
and other members of his family were constantly threatened and then ostracized by the
Hindu community in Badulla. The author’s family was denied access to the Hindu temple,
which is why it started going to a Christian church. The author, while still adhering to
Hinduism, also sometimes attended the Christian church.
2.3
The author claims that, in 2006, an employee invited him to visit his family and
meet his friends in Batticaloa. Once at the employee’s house, the author saw there were
men carrying weapons. During the night, the author was drunk and was photographed with
known members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In the pictures,1 the
author was holding a weapon in front of the LTTE logo.
2.4
The author had a child, born on 11 October 2007, with a Hindu woman whom he
married on 8 May 2008. The author and his wife kept the marriage and the child secret
because the author’s wife told the author that her family would kill her if it found out that
they were married and had a child. The author, his wife and their child moved to Badulla,
where they lived with the author’s father. The author’s family-in-law discovered that the
author’s wife was living with the author’s family. The author’s family-in-law, of Hindu
faith, was against the marriage because it thought that the author was of Christian faith. The
author’s family-in-law attacked the author and his father and abducted the author’s wife in
December 2007.2 The author’s son stayed with his father. The author’s family-in-law
wanted the author’s family to leave Badulla. According to the author, in June 2008 his
father was killed by relatives of the author’s wife.3
2.5
After the death of his father, the author moved with his child to Kandy, where he
kept a low profile. The author went to his shop in Badulla at intervals. After six months, he
received a letter from the police regarding the investigation into his father’s death telling
1
2
3
2
The author refers to both “picture” and “pictures”, without distinction.
On that day, the author lost contact with his wife but later found out that she was living and working
in Saudi Arabia.
In his initial submission, the author submitted his father’s death certificate, which gave “strangling”
as the cause of death. No further information on the outcome of the investigation into the author’s
father’s death was provided.