CAT/C/71/D/896/2018
controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at that time.1 From 2005 to 2008, the
complainant worked as a welder in a workshop owned by members of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam.
2.2
In January 2008, the complainant, along with his brother and sister, was required to
take part in a physical training programme with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. For
two to three months, the complainant was forced to dig bunkers and crawl on his knees for
several hours a day. As a result of the latter, he now walks with a limp.
2.3
When the fighting between the Sri Lankan authorities and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam intensified, the complainant, his siblings and his parents sought shelter
wherever it could be found. In 2008, the complainant witnessed the death of his brother in an
air strike carried out by the Sri Lanka Army. 2 In May 2009, the complainant was again
approached by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and forced to dig bunkers. He also
helped them to transport wounded persons.
2.4
On 14 May 2009, the complainant and his sister left Mullivaikkal 3 and handed
themselves over to the Sri Lanka Army. They were placed in detention in a provisional army
camp in Omanthai, where they were interrogated about their potential affiliation with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. On 15 May 2009, the complainant and his sister were
taken to the Vavuniya refugee camp. They were both interrogated on multiple occasions and
ill-treated by the officers. The complainant indicates that he was subjected to sexual assault,
but that he was not raped. In September 2009, the complainant was transferred to the Joseph
detention camp. During his confinement, the complainant was interrogated on a regular basis
and asked about his involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and whether he
knew people who were members of the organization. On several occasions during the
interrogations, he was tortured.4 The complainant consistently denied having any affiliation
with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
2.5
In February 2011, the complainant escaped from the Joseph detention camp, with the
help of his uncle, who had paid a bribe to the authorities. He went to Colombo, where he
remained for a few days waiting for a trafficker to arrange for his flight from Sri Lanka using
falsified travel documents. He arrived in the Netherlands on 7 March 2011.
2.6
The complainant submitted his first asylum request on 30 March 2011, which was
rejected by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on 7 April 2011. The Service found
that the complainant’s account lacked credibility, in particular regarding his training and
other activities with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, his detention by the Sri Lanka
Army and the circumstances of his escape from detention. On 7 April 2011, the complainant
lodged an application for judicial review of that decision with the District Court of The Hague.
On 28 April 2011, the complainant’s application was dismissed. The Court established that,
on the basis of the general country information before it and the individual circumstances of
the complainant’s case, it could not be inferred that the complainant had such a risk profile
as would allow the Court to conclude that he faced a real and foreseeable risk of torture or
ill-treatment upon his return to Sri Lanka. On 5 May 2011, the complainant filed for appeal
to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, which was rejected as
manifestly unfounded in a decision dated 19 May 2011.
1
2
3
4
2
See Council of Europe Decision (CFSP) 2020/20 of 13 January 2020 updating the list of persons,
groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the
application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2019/1341.
Available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2020/20/oj. See also
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/1192/oj.
On an unspecified date during the bombardments, the complainant and his sister also lost contact with
their parents.
It is unknown from the complaint and the supporting documents when they arrived in Mullivaikkal,
but it appears that they left Mullivaikkal immediately before it was captured by the Sri Lanka Army,
during the final phase of civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the armed
forces, in May 2009.
The complainant does not provide any details about the circumstances of torture and sexual assault to
which he was subjected. It is only stated that he has many scars all over his body and that his teeth
have been injured as a consequence of the ill-treatment.