CCPR/C/119/D/2613/2015
proceeded with his forcible removal. The Optional Protocol to the Covenant entered into
force for the State party on 19 August 1976. The author is represented by counsel. 1
1.2
On 29 May 2015, the Committee, pursuant to rules 92 and 97 of its rules of
procedure, acting through the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party to refrain from removing the author to El Salvador
while his case was under consideration by the Committee.
1.3
On 24 June 2016, the Committee, acting through the Special Rapporteur, denied the
State party’s request to lift the interim measures.
Factual background
2.1
The author was born in Cinquera, El Salvador, on 19 March 1971. He came to
Canada in 2005 to flee gang violence. His wife and three daughters are still living in El
Salvador.
2.2
The author indicates that during the civil war in El Salvador several members of his
extended family were involved with the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, 2 while
his uncle Ricardo was a member of a government death squad. In 1987, another of his
uncles was killed by members of the government death squad commanded by Ricardo
because of his involvement in helping Ricardo’s wife escape from El Salvador due to
Ricardo’s violent behaviour. In 1992, after the end of the conflict, Ricardo became a leader
of a gang called the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).
2.3
In April 1993, Ricardo became very angry with the author’s grandmother, mother
and brother Manuel because they had entered the house of Ricardo’s wife, where he was
still living. In May 1993, Manuel was murdered by members of the MS-13 gang. The
author helped the police identify the MS-13 gang members who had participated in the
killing, and three individuals were convicted and imprisoned for 10 years.3
2.4
The author claims that, owing to his involvement in the investigation of Manuel’s
murder, he became a target of the MS-13 gang. In July 1993, the author was shot in the
knee by a gang member.4 In November 2003, when the gang members convicted of killing
Manuel were released from prison, the author and a friend, Carlos Arturo Arevalo, were
attacked by suspected MS-13 gang members in front of a local shop. Mr. Arevalo died as a
result of the attack. In March 2004, the author and another friend, Martir Gregorio Aguilar,
were shot by suspected MS-13 gang members from a car while they were riding their
motorcycles. Mr. Aguilar was killed.
2.5
Following those events, the author went into hiding. He moved to Tejute and then to
San Matias for a few months. As he did not feel safe, he decided to return home in
December 2004. In January 2005, MS-13 gang members threatened the author and his
brother with a knife but they managed to escape. After that incident, the author decided to
leave the country, leaving behind his wife and his three daughters, aged 19, 17 and 13.
2.6
Since his departure, the author’s family has received threats from MS-13 gang
members, including letters and telephone calls asking for the author’s whereabouts or for
money in exchange for not hurting the daughters. 5 The author’s wife has made payments of
$100 to $200 to MS-13 gang members to protect herself and the family. She has been told
that the only reason her family is still alive is because the MS-13 gang knows that at some
point the author will have to return to his family. 6
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
Andrew J. Brouwer, Prasanna Balasundaram and Caitlin Maxwell.
One of the guerrilla groups involved in the civil war.
Pre-removal risk assessment decision, 20 April 2015.
The author provides a medical certificate, dated 16 January 2006, stating that he “sustained an injury
to this upper right leg, caused by firearm” and that “this occurrence took place in July 1993”.
The author includes a letter from the Salvadoran Civil National Police, dated 4 September 2009,
stating that the author’s family is “at imminent risk of physical integrity because of the threats
directed at this family” by the MS-13 gang.
The author includes a copy of a letter from his wife, dated 18 October 2010, stating that the MS-13
gang members told her that “if we have not killed you it is because he (the author) has to return for