CAT/C/40/D/293/2006
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the Committee, pursuant to rule 108, paragraph 9, of its rules of procedure, requested the State
party not to deport the complainant to Mexico while his complaint was being considered. In
response to this request, the State party decided to defer the deportation.
The facts as submitted by the complainants
2.1 In September 1995, the complainant was employed at vehicle pound No. 1 of the
Procurator-General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la Justicia) in Mexico City, where he
was in charge of human resources. His two supervisors were Mr. J.C. and Mr. A.B. From the
beginning of his employment he noticed there was corruption within the pound. He states that
the workers used extortion against vehicle owners with the consent of the supervisors. They
“asked for money to return vehicles, for towing, for the sale and purchase of vehicles or parts,
for ‘quicker’ services, for information, and for privileged access to private tow-trucks”. He also
noticed that there was trading in drugs and weapons, as well as illicit dealings with insurance
companies.
2.2 The complainant was threatened by Mr. J.C., who accused him of having reported the
above-mentioned facts to the Procurator-General’s Office. At one point he called the
complainant into his office, where two men beat him up. Owing to this situation the complainant
requested a transfer to vehicle pound A in Mexico City in March 1997. Later he was also
transferred to other vehicle pounds, always at the instigation of Mr. A.B. In September 1997,
Mr. A.B. was murdered. The very next day, the complainant began to receive anonymous death
threats over the telephone. Suspecting Mr. J.C., he resigned from his job and moved to Cuautla.
His wife stayed in Mexico City to work, but she moved to a different apartment. In July 1999 he
again received death threats from Mr. J.C., who accused him of having destroyed his extortion
network. The complainant did not dare to report this to the police, since he feared that was the
very reason why Mr. A.B. had been murdered. The complainant claims that Mr. O.E.V., the
former mayor of Mexico City, was ultimately responsible for the corruption network, and that
Mr. O.E.V.’s collaborators are seeking to “eliminate” him and his family in order to protect their
boss.
2.3 On 2 August 1999, the complainant left Mexico with his family for Canada, where he filed
a request for refugee status on 23 September 1999. On 10 July 2000, the Canadian Immigration
and Refugee Board (CISR) rejected the request on the grounds that the complainant had not
furnished sufficient evidence of the risk that he faced in Mexico. The complainant submitted an
application for authorization of a judicial review before the Federal Court, which was also
rejected on 8 November 2000.
2.4 On 14 July 2002, the complainant and his family returned to Mexico, where they received
new threats, including threats to his family. The complainant therefore returned to Canada as a
tourist, but after October 2003 he was no longer entitled to that status and he remained in the
country illegally. His family remained in Mexico. Between December 2002 and April 2003, his
son received numerous threats from soldiers and police officers in the State of Hidalgo, who
were apparently looking for his father.
2.5 On 2 August 2004, there was a fire at the complainant’s apartment, and he suffered serious
burns. He remained in hospital for several months. Following this incident, his wife and daughter
joined him in Canada.