CAT/C/21/D/66/1997
page 3
imprisonment. On 21 March 1994 the author was released from prison on medical
grounds. He remained in Pakistan until 21 January 1995, when he was granted
full parole. He and the other hijackers were given three months to leave the
country.
2.3
In January 1995 the author applied to the Canadian immigration
authorities for entry into the country but his application was rejected.
Later on he travelled to Canada with a false Afghan passport and under the
false name of B.S. In a form which he was required to fill in when entering
the country he denied having been convicted of a crime. In September 1995 he
was arrested by the Canadian Immigration Service and placed in custody. On
27 October 1995, a conditional deportation order was issued by the Immigration
and Refugee Board. He was also given notice under section 46.01 (e) of the
Immigration Act that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration intended to
certify the author as being a danger to the public in Canada. Such
certification would render the author ineligible to make a refugee claim in
Canada.
2.4
The author was certified as a danger to the public in June 1996. He
then challenged the certification by judicial review on the basis of
procedural unfairness. The Federal Court rescinded the certification on those
grounds. In October 1996 a new certification process started as a result of
which the Minister certified, by decision of 30 April 1997, that the author
was a danger and an order was issued to remove him from Canada on 5 May 1997.
The complaint
3.1
The author argues that he would be in serious danger of being subjected
to torture if he was deported to India. He submits that those persons who are
known to have acted for Sikh nationalists are persecuted by the authorities in
Punjab and that although violence in Punjab is said to be reduced, members of
the AISSF and their families continue to be harassed in Punjab. He asserts
that two of the hijackers who were released from custody and attempted to
return to India were killed by the Indian Border Security Forces after they
crossed the border. On 27 June 1996, K.S.S., a member of the AISSF who was
involved in a second hijacking in August 1994 was found dead in a canal in
Rajastan. Presumably K.S.S. either was extrajudicially executed or died as a
result of torture by the Punjab police.
3.2
He states that because of his involvement in the hijacking the author’s
family has been persecuted by the Punjab police. They were arrested after the
hijacking took place and his mother has repeatedly been harassed by the Punjab
police who questioned her about other Sikh nationalists and threatened her
with detention and disappearance. In October 1988 she flew to Canada where
she was granted refugee status in 1992. The author also submits that his
brother, T.S.S., was held in illegal detention and subjected to gross
ill-treatment by the Punjab police between 26 March and 2 May 1988. During
that time he was questioned about his brother and the latter’s friends. He
was released without charge and granted political asylum in Canada in 1992.
3.3
The author further argues that there are grounds for assuming that he is
wanted in India. He reports that the names of those persons who have come to
the attention of the authorities are contained in a list which circulates