CAT/C/58/D/599/2014
Facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
In 1998, the complainant left school as some children had been abducted and
recruited by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
2.2
He found employment as a jeweller in Colombo, from 2004 to 2012 (age 16 to
24 years). During this time, army officers would come to the jewellery shop three or four
times a month to check his identification registration and would throw his equipment
around.
2.3
In 2006, the complainant’s brother was abducted by LTTE and his family has not
seen him since.
2.4
Between 2007 and 2008, the complainant returned to Batticaloa to register with his
family in an army camp after his family was displaced by fighting. On his way back to
Colombo, he was abducted by five men in a white van. He states that he was abducted
because the men in question mistook him for his brother who was an LTTE member. He
was held for one day, beaten and interrogated regarding LTTE involvement. He was
released later in the day and spent three months in hospital.
2.5
In February 2012, the complainant became sick and returned home. One day, five
men came to the complainant’s house and demanded that he attend a rally protesting United
Nations findings on Sri Lanka. The complainant refused because he was sick. The men in
question accused him of belonging to an LTTE family and slapped him twice and told him
to be careful.
2.6
The complainant then hid at the houses of various friends and relatives until fleeing
to Australia.
2.7
The complainant left Sri Lanka illegally by boat on 25 March 2012 from Beruwela,
Western Province, and arrived at Christmas Island, an excised Australian migration zone,
on 11 April 2012.
2.8
On 30 June 2012, the complainant applied for a protection visa and was interviewed
by an officer of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship on 30 June 2012 at
Scherger Immigration Detention Centre in Queensland. The complainant’s application was
rejected, as detailed in the written decision dated 17 August 2012. The complainant applied
to the Refugee Review Tribunal for a review of the decision and was interviewed by the a
member of the Tribunal on 20 November 2012. On 1 May 2013, the Refugee Review
Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the complainant a protection visa. On 13 May
2013, the complainant applied to the Federal Circuit Court for a review of the Tribunal’s
decision. On 22 November 2013, the Federal Circuit Court dismissed the complainant’s
application and awarded legal costs of $2,500 against him. On 11 December 2013, the
complainant requested the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to exercise his
public interest powers under section 417 of the Migration Act. On 3 March 2014, the
Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection declined to intervene. As the
complainant’s bridging visa had expired, the Department of Immigration and Border
Protection scheduled a bridging visa interview for 2 May 2014. At the time of submitting
the present communication, the complainant feared that he would be arrested at the
interview and redetained for the purpose of removal to Sri Lanka.
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