CAT/C/57/D/583/2014
Facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant is of the Sikh faith and was born in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He
worked in his family’s pharmacy in Phagwara. He was targeted by local authorities because
his cousin M. was accused of assisting militants.
2.2
On 3 November 2008, the police raided and searched the complainant’s home,
where M. was staying and arrested them both. The police accused the complainant of
assisting militants and detained him for four days. During this period, the complainant was
stripped naked. Police officers beat his buttocks and the soles of his feet with leather belts
and wooden sticks. His legs were pulled apart and a police officer kicked his genitals. He
fainted as a result of this ill-treatment. On 7 November 2008, he was released after his
family paid a substantial bribe and secured the intervention of local officials. The
complainant sought treatment in a hospital for his injuries. 1
2.3
In July 2009, the police came to the complainant’s house to arrest him again, but he
was not present. Fearing for his life, he left his village and went to stay with relatives, first
in the village of Nadha Sahib, in the Ambala District, then in Chandigarh.
2.4
On 8 December 2009, the complainant was arrested in Chandigarh and beaten by
police officers. He was then taken to Phagwara, where he was tortured by police officers.
The officers accused him of helping militants and planning with M. to kill unspecified
leaders.2 The complainant was again released on 10 December 2009, after his family paid
another substantial bribe and obtained the intervention of influential individuals. He was
instructed to provide more information about M. and was told not to leave Phagwara
without notifying the police. Specifically, the police threatened him and instructed him to
produce his cousin within two months and provide information about unspecified militants.
If he did not comply, he would be killed. He again had to seek treatment in a hospital, and
realized that the police had been able to find him in Chandigarh by wiretapping his family’s
home phone. Out of fear for his life, he fled India and arrived in Canada on a student visa
on 18 January 2010.
2.5
The complainant claims that he has exhausted domestic remedies. On 20 December
2011, he filed a refugee claim in Canada. In June 2013, the Immigration and Refugee Board,
a division of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), rejected his claim. Thereafter, he
applied to the Federal Court of Canada for leave to file for judicial review of the Board’s
decision; this application was rejected on 18 October 2013. The complainant alleges that he
is unable to submit an application for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA), as individuals
whose refugee claims have been denied must wait at least one year before filing such an
application. The complainant became subject to a removal order and, on 13 January 2014,
he was detained in an immigration facility in Montreal. He was released on bail on 15
January 2014.
1
2
2
The complainant provides a statement from a doctor in Phagwara, Punjab, dated 28 February 2013,
which states that he was treated at a hospital (from 7 to 15 November 2008 and from 10 to 24
December 2009) and received further outpatient care for “multiple injuries, bruises, swelling and pain
all over his body due to police beatings”.
The complainant provides an affidavit from S., dated 28 February 2013. S. identifies himself as a
member of the Municipal Committee of Phagwara. In the affidavit, S. states that the complainant is a
member of his constituency who encountered problems with the police owing to his cousin. After his
cousin went into hiding, the complainant was targeted by the police. He also went into hiding, but the
police found and arrested him in Chandigarh, because they suspected him of helping his cousin and
other militants. The police illegally detained and tortured the complainant. Fearing further problems
with the police, the complainant left India and went to Canada. His father and mother were beaten by
the police owing to his departure. The rest of his family members live in hiding. The complainant will
not be able to live in peace if he returns to India because the police believe he has joined militants and
sends funds to them from abroad.
GE.16-09779