- 112 On 20 August 1998, the Tribunal decided again not to grant a protection visa, after hearing
the complainant. On 3 February 1999, the federal Court dismissed the complainant’s appeal
against the second RRT decision. An appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was
dismissed on 14 May 1999. On 3 November 1997, 20 August 1998 and 18 June 1999, his case
was considered not to satisfy the requirements for granting a visa to remain in Australia on
humanitarian grounds. Counsel submits that all effective domestic remedies have been
exhausted.
2.2
Counsel submits that the complainant lived in Nuwara Eliya, an area in the south of
Sri Lanka. In 1989, when fighting broke out between the pro-Sinhalese movement Janatha
Vimurthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Government in the Nuwara Eliya area, the complainant was
arrested and detained for six to seven months in the Diyatalawa Army Camp on suspicion of
being a member of JVP. During this time, the complainant was allegedly questioned and
subjected to torture by army officers. The complainant’s father paid a large amount of money to
secure his release.
2.3
From 1992 to 1995, members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), friends of
his wife’s family, visited frequently and the complainant was obliged to provide food and
accommodation. On the last occasion, in October 1995, several members of the LTTE came to
stay with his family for 15 days. During this time, the oil tanks in Kolonawa, Colombo, were
bombed and the police believed that the people staying with the complainant’s family had been
involved. The complainant was allegedly taken to the police station in Nuwara Eliya,
interrogated and tortured. It is submitted that the complainant had only been released after three
days upon payment of a large amount of money to the police officer in charge.
2.4
In February 1996, the LTTE accused the complainant of providing the Government with
information on the oil tank attack. Counsel submits that the complainant was beaten and
threatened with death. After intervention by his family and his wife, he was spared.
2.5
Towards the end of February 1996, the complainant was arrested by the police and taken
to Diyathalawa Army Camp, detained for three days, and allegedly tortured. Counsel submits
that the father of the complainant paid a large amount of money for his release. Immediately
after his release, the complainant fled Nuwara Eliya for fear of the Sri Lankan authorities and the
LTTE. He stayed with friends in Kandy and later in Hatton for some months, before he went to
Colombo.
2.6
Later in 1996, the Maradana police arrested the complainant in Colombo, detained him
for one week and questioned him on his relationship with the LTTE. It is submitted that the
complainant was beaten every night by police officers and that he was not given proper food. In
March 1997, the complainant managed to flee Sri Lanka to Cambodia, Bangkok and Sydney.
2.7
Counsel submits that in view of the two arrests of the complainant with regard to the
Kolonawa bomb blast, there is a real chance that he would be arrested again should he return to
Sri Lanka. Counsel believes that the documents, which have been taken away from the
complainant by the police, have been supplied to the secret police (NIB) and, therefore, the
authorities will be in a position to trace the complainant wherever he lives. Counsel argues that
the complainant had been arrested and come to the attention of the security forces for providing a
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