CAT/C/71/D/884/2018
training course, which included weapons training. He then worked as a medic for the Tamil
Tigers, treating those who had been wounded in combat and driving them to hospitals if their
injuries were too severe to be treated on site.
2.2
In 2008, the complainant left the Tamil Tigers and returned home to care for his
mother, who had cancer. In 2010, he was asked through a friend to meet with three former
friends from the Tamil Tigers to talk about the risks that they were facing and to discuss
whether they should go to India. During their meeting, they were apprehended by the Sri
Lanka Navy and the police. One of the complainant’s friends had a pistol, which he threw
away before his apprehension, but it was found by the Criminal Investigation Department.
The complainant and his friends were taken to Kuchchaveli police station, where they were
interrogated about the meeting and the pistol’s origins. During the interrogation, the
complainant was stripped down to his underwear and beaten with a pipe. The complainant
was kept in custody for two weeks, during which time he was deprived of food and water and
subjected to further torture.
2.3
The complainant was released on bail after two weeks, and was treated in hospital for
the injuries that he had suffered. He was later abducted by the Karuna group and spent seven
days in their custody, again being subjected to beatings. He was questioned about his uncle,
who had earlier been shot by the Karuna group, and about his own contacts within the Tamil
Tigers. The complainant’s mother paid a bribe to the Karuna group, and he was released a
week later and went into hiding.
2.4
On an unspecified date, the Criminal Investigation Department initiated a criminal
case against the complainant on weapons charges. After he skipped bail and went into hiding,
they went to his house and interrogated his father and younger brother. A warrant for his
arrest was later issued and sent to his house.
2.5
The complainant entered the State party by boat on 18 July 2012, and was detained
upon arrival. He was granted a bridging visa on 20 November 2012. The complainant was
granted further bridging visas, and his last visa expired on 24 February 2016.
2.6
On 4 September 2013, the delegate of the Minister for Immigration refused to grant
the complainant a protection visa. On 13 May 2015, the Refugee Review Tribunal confirmed
the decision not to grant him a visa. On 2 September 2016, the Federal Circuit Court
dismissed his application for a judicial review. On 16 February 2017, the complainant’s
application for leave to appeal the decision of the Federal Circuit Court was dismissed by the
Federal Court of Australia. On 12 October 2017, the High Court of Australia dismissed the
complainant’s application for special leave to appeal.
2.7
The complainant submits that he was frightened to inform the State party authorities
of his connections to the Tamil Tigers when he first claimed asylum. He was also frightened
to provide evidence that he faced charges in Sri Lanka for alleged weapons offences arising
from his connections with former members of the Tamil Tigers. The complainant’s capacity
to give cohesive evidence and to participate in the claims process was compromised by the
effects of torture to which he had been subjected in Sri Lanka. He raised his claims that he
had been a member of the Tamil Tigers before the Federal Court of Australia, but it
determined that it could not hear those claims.
2.8
In July 2018, during an interview with the New South Wales Service for the Treatment
and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors, the complainant detailed his
membership of the Tamil Tigers and the torture to which he had been subjected by the
authorities in Sri Lanka. He was assessed as being mentally unwell, with dissociation and
suicide attempts. The Service’s report was submitted to the Minister of Home Affairs,
requesting ministerial intervention to reconsider the complainant’s claims. However, that
request was refused on 3 September 2018, without referral to the Minister for consideration.
A further application for ministerial intervention was lodged on 7 September 2018, but was
refused on 10 September 2018. The complainant is being detained at Villawood Immigration
Detention Centre.
2.9
On 9 March 2019, the complainant submitted additional information with regard to
his situation. He claims that on 10 September 2018, he was put on a plane back to Sri Lanka
with a stopover in Perth, Australia. However, after landing in Perth, he was taken off the
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