interim injunction before the Ontario Court of Justice to stay the
execution of the deportation order. The application was dismissed
because the matter had already been decided by the Federal Court.
2.6 In his submission to the Committee dated 11 November 1998, the
author argued, in relation to the issue of exhaustion of internal
remedies, that as soon as the Court rendered its decision on the
application for the stay of removal, there would be no other internal
remedy left.
2.7 The author alleges that the State party did not make a proper risk
assessment at the time of the decision in April 1996 nor any
subsequent review of the risk assessment, despite the existence of
major political and human rights problems in the country to which the
author was to be deported. The Taliban had become a major actor in
the Afghan political situation and conditions in the country had
changed dramatically as a consequence.
2.8 The author is a Sunni Muslim and a member of the Tajik ethnic
group. The bigger part of Afghanistan is at present controlled by the
Taliban who, although Sunnis, are of a different ethnic group, the
Pashtun.
2.9 The author states that Afghanistan continues to experience civil
war and political instability and that ethnic divisions are increasingly
influencing the fighting. The Taliban, who emerged as a military and
political force in 1994, are an ultra-conservative Islamic movement.
In January 1997, they were controlling two thirds of Afghanistan
including Kabul, the capital.
2.10 In addition to the general situation of insecurity caused by the
internal armed conflict between the Taliban and other factions, the
human rights situation in the territory controlled by the Taliban is of
serious concern. According to the author, there is discrimination
between the different ethnic groups. The Taliban have detained
hundreds of people solely because of their ethnic origin. Among these
minority groups are the Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras, Shi'ite Muslims and
Turkmen. The author submits that a significant number of Tajiks have
been detained and some of them have disappeared.
2.11 The author also refers to Amnesty International reports stating
that Taliban guards have beaten and kicked people in custody and that
long-term prisoners have been severely tortured. It is also submitted
that according to a Human Rights Watch report on one of the worst
massacres of civilians committed by the Taliban, in August 1998