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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Asylum and Immigration Tribunal >> CB (Detailed Appraisal) Sri Lanka [2002] UKIAT 01547 (16 May 2002) URL: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIAT/2002/01547.html Cite as: [2002] UKIAT 1547, [2002] UKIAT 01547 |
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CB (Detailed Appraisal) Sri Lanka [2002] UKIAT 01547
HX-87236-1998
Date of hearing: 1 May 2002
Date Determination notified: 16 May 2002
CB | APPELLANT |
and | |
Secretary of State for the Home Department | RESPONDENT |
"An inquiry is underway against you under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
By virtue of Section 109(6) Part 16 1979, an order to attend for an inquiry at the Investigation Division on 15-07-1997 at 10.00 hrs, is hereby made by the Controller of the Mannar CID branch.
We hereby inform you that failure to comply with this will give rise to a right to arrest and punish you."
That was dated the 8th July 1997 and there is a signature which is identified as that of the Controller of the CID branch. Subsequently, it appears, there was a second letter which is dated 19th April 1998 and is in these terms:
"It is being observed that you have failed to appear at this station in spite of earlier notices.
Your failure to appear at this station on or before 03-05-1998 would entail warrant being taken out for your arrest and detention till completion of inquiries and thereafter if necessary."
That has a signature which is identified as the Headquarters Inspector at the Police Station in Mannar.
One particular point which arises on the first of those documents is this. As we have said, the Appellant's father is a judge and it is, to say the least, surprising that it is said that the Appellant misunderstood the effect of the first document to such an extent that he thought that he was wanted as a terrorist. The Appellant's evidence on this issue was that the document arrived by post to the Appellant's home and that it had come through the proper channels. We say no more than that, given his father's status (not as a provider of protection but as a provider of information) it is surprising that the Appellant should have been so readily mistaken as to the effect of that document. That is not, however, a matter which motivates us to any decision we make about the document.
"Given the late service of the documents themselves, it has not been possible for the Home Office to verify those documents. It is left for me to evaluate them within the context of the Appellant's evidence as a whole.
I remind myself that I have to consider the evidence of the Appellant within the context of life in Sri Lanka as demonstrated by the country reports. In that connection I have been handed a great number of such reports and do not repeat all that is set out therein. I indicate that I have considered those passages to which my attention was specifically invited."
The Adjudicator then goes on to consider the evidence before him in some detail. He concludes that that he does not believe the Appellant's account of what happened to him before he left Sri Lanka and he gives reasons for his conclusion, extending over two pages of a closely typed determination. So far as the documents are concerned, he records that he has some reservations about their genuineness and he records also some reasons for his final conclusion on them. He notes that they bore no stamps of authentication and that they are hand-written on forms. As Ms Gandhi pointed out, there is evidence before us that the normal form of such documents would be hand-written on a typed or written form. It does not appear to us that the Adjudicator was requiring any stamp or authentication of the documents. Reading the determination as a whole, it appears to us that the position is that the Adjudicator was taking into account all the evidence, including all his reservations about all of it, and was noting that the hand-written forms did not assist the Appellant in satisfying him because they were documents of a type which had no authentication. The position is that they did not assist the Appellant one way or another, in the Adjudicator's view.
"There is clear evidence emerging from the findings of the Tribunal that security forces noticing scarring will detain young Tamils for longer periods and subject them to severe treatment. There is nothing, however, to indicate that the scarring on the body of the Appellant as described would be so significant as to cause the authorities to believe that he had been involved in violence or conflict."
Again, it appears to us that that conclusion was amply open to the Adjudicator. He took account of the medical evidence before him: we do not accept any allegation that he did not bear it fully in mind. His conclusion was that whatever be the cause of the scars, their effect would not be such as to raise suspicion as to their origin.
"6.1 The Director explained that if a returnee were not wanted they would not be stopped at the airport. However, when the CID are certain that the individual has committed or been convicted of an offence then they would be stopped. A computer holds the name, address and age of a wanted person. The police purely go on records – scars would not make a difference and the authorities would not make a decision on this basis.
6.2 We were told that there had been no round-ups of Tamils on Colombo in the last six months.
6.3 The Director thought that the Human Rights Commission (HRC) was very effective. The HRC are able to visit and make enquiries. Therefore the procedures are open and investigated and the police are not able to do anything untoward.
6.4 The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is still in force. The government are seriously considering repealing the Act, and there has been an order not to make any arrests under the PTA, only under common law. [This is part of the text of the cease-fire agreement]. The CID is now allied with the Ministry of the Interior and the Director felt that this was a positive move as the police were now more closely linked to the public.
6.5 Failure to comply with reporting restrictions would not warrant reporting or recording."
We do not need to set out any more of that document.
"Checks on returnees at the Colombo Airport have been eased with many returned rejected asylum seekers simply being waived [sic] through since December 2001. This is in sharp contrast to what happened previously where basically every returnee was referred to CID and thereafter referred to the magistrate in Negombo in order to carry out relevant checks, where they were necessary. Most returnee cases that underwent this process were released on the same day. Scarring is not seen to be a significant issue, although obvious scarring could draw attention and result in further enquiries and detention by the authorities."
"Although steps towards peace have been taken in Sri Lanka recently, it is still premature to advocate that the situation has reached a satisfactory level of safety to warrant the return of all unsuccessful asylum applicants to Sri Lanka. In this regard, UNHCR has been aware that returning Tamils are potentially open to risk of serious harm similar to those generally encountered by young male Tamils in certain circumstances. This risk may be triggered by suspicions (on the part of the security forces) founded on various factual elements relating to the individual concerned, including the lack of identity documents, the lack of proper authorisation for residence and travel, the fact that the individual concerned is a young Tamil male from an 'uncleared' area or the fact that the person has close family members who are or have been involved with the LTTE.
In UNHCR's view, the presence of torture related scars on the body of a returnee should be a relevant consideration in assessing likelihood of danger upon the return of Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers. Where such scars are related to human rights abuses, they would likely be seen as evidence of the security forces previous interest in the particular individual. This could in turn serve to trigger further adverse attention to that individual. While every case should be assessed on its own merits, UNHCR would reiterate its view that special care should be taken in relation to the return of failed asylum seekers to Sri Lanka."
C M G OCKELTON
DEPUTY PRESIDENT