CAT/C/57/D/605/2014
1.1
The complainant, G.R., is a national of Sri Lanka born on 2 October 1991. He
sought asylum in Australia, his application was rejected and he is awaiting forced removal
to Sri Lanka. He claims that if removed, he would be at risk of being subjected to torture,
harassment and interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department, the Sri Lankan
army or associated paramilitary groups as he is suspected of being a member and supporter
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. His removal would thus be in violation of article 3
of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. The complainant requested the granting of interim measures to halt his
imminent forced removal to Sri Lanka while his complaint was under consideration by the
Committee. Australia recognized the competence of the Committee against Torture,
pursuant to article 22 of the Convention, on 28 January 1993. The complainant is
represented by counsel, John Phillip Sweeney (Edmund Rice Centre).
1.2
On 27 May 2014, pursuant to rule 114, paragraph 1, of its rules of procedure (see
CAT/C/3/Rev.6), the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and
interim measures, granted provisional interim measures and requested the State party to
refrain from returning the complainant to Sri Lanka while his complaint was under
consideration by the Committee; that request could be reviewed in the light of information
and observations submitted by the State party and further comments from the complainant.
On 16 April 2015, the State party requested that the Committee lift the interim measures.
While reaffirming that it considers each interim measures request on its merits in good faith
through comprehensive domestic proceedings, the State party claimed that there were no
substantial grounds for believing that the author faced a real risk of irreparable harm if
returned to Sri Lanka and assessed the interim measures request to be unwarranted. On 1
May 2015, the Committee decided to maintain provisional interim measures. On 29 May
2015, the complainant submitted that, as of that day, he was placed in immigration
detention pending his removal to Sri Lanka. 1 Also on 29 May 2015, the State party again
requested that the Committee lift the interim measures. On 18 August 2015, the Committee
decided to reiterate its request for interim measures.
Facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant, of Tamil and Sinhalese ethnicity, 2 is a native of Trincomalee who
has also lived in Jaffna (Northern Province of Sri Lanka). 3 In 2005, one of the
complainant’s uncles was killed by the Sri Lankan army, due to suspected links with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In 2006, another of his uncles was killed by the
paramilitary Karuna group, having been suspected of storing weapons for the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Karuna group subsequently interrogated the complainant about
his uncle, and about whether the complainant was involved with the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam. In 2008, a third uncle was killed, by either the Sri Lankan army or the Karuna
group, on suspicion of being a former member and/or supporter of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam. Subsequently, the complainant was arrested and interrogated. 4 He was
reportedly beaten and threatened with death if he did not tell the interrogators, who were
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4
2
According to the information provided by the State party, the complainant remains in detention.
His mother is Tamil and his father is Sinhalese, which was an issue discussed at length by the
authorities of the State party, although the complainant indicated that he identified himself as a Tamil
(due to his language and the fact that he lived in a Tamil-dominated area).
The complainant submits that according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), anyone who has lived in that part of the country necessarily had links with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam prior to 2009. The stay in Jaffna is allegedly particularly dangerous
for the complainant since it heightens the risk that he will be identified as having links with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and/or as being likely to hold anti-government views because of
the lack of investigation into war crimes accusations.
The complainant does not provide further details as to the timing of the incident.
GE.16-09596