CCPR/C/127/D/2484/2014
United Nations
International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
Distr.: General
18 December 2019
Original: English
Human Rights Committee
Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the
Optional Protocol, concerning communication
No. 2484/2014*, **
Communication submitted by:
S.K. (represented by counsel, Nilufar Sadeghi)
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Canada
Date of communication:
26 November 2014 (initial submission)
Document references:
Decision taken pursuant to rule 92 of the
Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to
the State party on 27 November 2014 (not issued
in document form)
Date of adoption of Views:
24 October 2019
Subject matter:
Non-refoulement; past torture of the author
Procedural issues:
Non-substantiation of the claims, exhaustion of
domestic remedies
Substantive issues:
Torture, right to life, arbitrary detention, nonrefoulement
Articles of the Covenant:
6 (1), 7 and 9 (1)
Articles of the Optional Protocol:
2 and 5 (2) (b)
1.1
The author of the communication is S.K., a Sri Lankan national born in 1976. He
sought asylum in Canada, his application was rejected and he risks deportation to Sri Lanka.
He claims that his deportation would violate his rights under articles 6 (1), 7 and 9 (1), of
the Covenant because he fears that he will be killed or tortured in Sri Lanka on the grounds
of his past work for a non-governmental organization (NGO) that helped persons of Tamil
origin. He is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 27 November 2014, in accordance with rule 92 of its rules of procedure, the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party not to expel the author to Sri Lanka while the
communication was being considered. On 11 January 2017, the State party requested that
the interim measures with regard to the author be lifted on the grounds that he had failed to
* Adopted by the Committee at its 127th session (14 October–8 November 2019).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Tania María Abdo Rocholl, Yadh Ben Achour, Ilze Brands Kehris, Arif Bulkan, Ahmed Amin
Fathalla, Shuichi Furuya, Christoph Heyns, Bamariam Koita, Photini Pazartzis, Hernán Quezada
Cabrera, Vasilka Sancin, José Manuel Santos Pais, Yuval Shany, Hélène Tigroudja, Andreas
Zimmermann and Gentian Zyberi.
GE.19-21940(E)