S.V. (name withheld) v. Canada, Communication No.
49/1996,
U.N. Doc. CAT/C/26/D/49/1996 (2001).
Communication No. 49/1996
Submitted by: S.V. et al. (name withheld) [represented by counsel]
Alleged victim: The authors
State
party:
Date of communication: 15 May 1996
Canada
The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment,
Meeting on 15 May 2001,
Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 49/1996,
submitted to the Committee against Torture under article 22 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment,
Having taken into account all information made available to it by the
author of the communication, his counsel and the State party,
Adopts its Views under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention.
1. The authors of the communication are Mr. S.V., his wife and daughter,
citizens of Sri Lanka currently seeking refugee status in Canada. They
claim that forcible return to Sri Lanka would constitute a violation of
articles 3 and 16 of the Convention against Torture by Canada. They are
represented by counsel.
1.2 On 12 June 1996 the Committee forwarded the communication to the
State party for comments and requested it not to expel the authors while
their communication was under consideration by the Committee.
The facts as submitted by the authors
2.1 The author is a Tamil from the area of Jaffna in the north of Sri Lanka.
He and his wife have two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 2-yearold son who was born in Canada and is a Canadian citizen. The authors
claim that in the period from 1987 until their departure from Sri Lanka in