CCPR/C/121/D/2487/2014
2.9
On 3 January 2013, the Federal Court allowed the application for judicial review,
setting aside the exclusion order and sending the matter back for re-examination by a
different officer. The decision was appealed by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada. On 10 January
2014, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the author’s judicial review application and
set aside the January 2013 decision of the Federal Court.
2.10 On 12 March 2014, the author filed an application for leave to appeal the decision of
the Federal Court of Appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada. On 12 June, his request
was dismissed.
2.11 On 29 August 2014, the author’s pre-removal risk assessment application was
dismissed. The author complains that his application was examined solely through written
submissions and that the officer analysing his application did not assess his credibility and
story in person. The evaluation of fear was made by an officer of Citizenship and
Immigration Canada and not by a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The
author explains that the officer who rendered the negative decision referred to the absence
of original documents. The author had some of the original documents, and he submits that
he could have presented them had he been given an opportunity to participate in an oral
examination of his application.
2.12 On 26 November 2014, the author filed an application for leave before the Federal
Court to seek judicial review of the negative pre-removal risk assessment decision and
requested a judicial stay of his removal. The author claims that the Federal Court had not
yet rendered a decision on these requests by the time the complaint was submitted to the
Committee, but that he could be removed at any time. Domestic remedies were later
exhausted.5
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that his deportation to Sri Lanka would constitute a violation of
his rights under articles 6 (1), 7 and 9 (1) of the Covenant. He contends that he faces great
danger should he be sent back to Sri Lanka. Referring to various public reports and
guidelines, the author submits that the situation in Sri Lanka is extremely dangerous for
individuals showing any kind of opposition to governmental authorities. 6 He has already
been targeted and beaten until he lost consciousness for having testified against the Sri
Lankan police. As the only eyewitness to his cousin’s murder, the author was persecuted
for wishing to file a complaint against the police. In addition, the author submits that even
after his departure, his family continued to receive telephone threats that he would be killed
if he was ever seen in the area.
3.2
According to the author, his claim was corroborated in a report by Schweizerische
Flüchtlingshilfe in 2012, as follows:
In Sri Lanka, doctors often refuse to treat the victims of torture, who then, fearing
other ill-treatment, are reluctant to go to public hospitals. That is why many of them
consult private doctors. In Sri Lanka it is rare for victims of torture to lodge a
complaint, because that would require a certificate issued by State doctors. Those
who do so are put under pressure by the public prosecutors, who make every effort
to get them to withdraw their complaint. 7
The same report states that “according to what has been said by a number of observers,
persons returning to Sri Lanka are regarded as traitors who have discredited Sri Lanka
abroad. It must therefore be assumed that they are an at-risk group. There is admittedly no
5
6
7
See paras. 4.6, 5.1, 6.1, 6.4, 8.1 and 8.2.
Amnesty International, Annual Report for Sri Lanka, 2013, available from
www.amnesty.org/en/region/sri-lanka/report-2013; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of
Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka (HCR/EG/LKA/12/04), 21 December 2012.
Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe, “Sri Lanka: current situation: update”, pp. 10−11 (official
translation). Available from www.refworld.org/pdfid/5243f5dfa.pdf.
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