CCPR/C/114/D/2280/2013
Facts as presented by the author
2.1
The author is of Tamil ethnicity and professes the Hindu faith. He lived with his
family in the city of Jaffna, in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, until 1995, when they
moved to the town of Mallavi, Vanni district, also in the Northern Province. He used to
work as a tractor driver and mason. In August 2006, the author and his family moved to
Sithamparapuram, Vavuniya, after repeated harassment and threats from members of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who wanted to recruit him. The author claims,
however, that in that new location he was continuously harassed by the Sri Lankan Army
and the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) during their search
operations, and that PLOTE forced him to work as a mason for free.
2.2
The author argues that on 7 May 2008, he was arrested by the Army on his way
home from work. He claims that he was taken to the military Joseph Camp in Vavuniya,
where he was held for 18 days; that he was tortured during interrogation under the
suspicion that he was an LTTE member; and that he was released only after his father had
paid a bribe to the Army. Since the author refused to work for PLOTE, on 23 January 2009
it abducted him for two days, during which he was assaulted and threatened. In June 2009,
members of PLOTE approached the Army and falsely denounced the author as an LTTE
member. Subsequently he was arrested by the Army and kept in detention for four days,
during which he was interrogated and beaten. His father managed to secure his release by
paying a bribe to someone who could influence PLOTE.
2.3
The author claims that, since he continued to be harassed by members of PLOTE
and forced to work for free, he made a verbal complaint to the police about them. In
reprisal, PLOTE managed to convince the Army to arrest him on 1 December 2009. He was
taken to the Joseph Camp, brutally beaten and detained for one week. Once again, his father
paid a bribe in order to secure his release. Upon release, the author was told to leave the
area and withdraw his complaint. In addition, members of PLOTE visited his family home
and his neighbours in Vavuniya, searching for him, and told his family that they would kill
him.
2.4
As he had applied for and obtained a Sri Lankan passport, on 22 December 2009 the
author left Sri Lanka by plane, with a Cuban visa. He claims that a smuggler bribed one of
the airport agents, who let the author pass through the security checks without inspection.
He went through different countries and on 23 March 2010, he entered the United States of
America, where he applied for asylum.
2.5
The author decided to travel to Canada where he had cousins who could support him
financially. On 9 June 2010, he entered the State party and lodged a refugee application. On
30 July 2010, he submitted his Personal Information Form to the Immigration and Refugee
Board (IRB). The author claimed that he had a well-founded fear of persecution in Sri
Lanka due to his Tamil ethnicity, and that if he returned there he would risk being subjected
to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and his life would be at risk. He
pointed out that he had been arbitrarily arrested by the Sri Lankan Army under suspicion of
being an LTTE member and subjected to torture while in detention. Likewise, he had been
harassed, abducted for two days and had suffered ill-treatment by members of PLOTE.
2.6
On 22 September 2011, the author informed IRB that after his arrival in the State
party, he had learned that his family had moved to Jaffna to avoid harassment by members
of PLOTE, who had attempted to kidnap one of his brothers and continued to search for
him. In Jaffna, his family had been interrogated by the Army under suspicion of being
LTTE members, since they had resided in the Vanni area during the period of the armed
conflict. During the refugee proceedings he also submitted documentation confirming his
identity, newspaper articles about Tamils deported to Sri Lanka, and a letter dated 18
August 2011, issued by a doctor from a medical clinic in Vavuniya, stating that he had
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