CAT/C/51/D/434/2010 Factual background 2.1 The main complainant, Y.G.H., originates from Longtian in Fujian Province of China, where he has been a member of the underground Quiets church since 1998. He allowed meetings of the church to be conducted in his store and was questioned by police in 2001. In 2003 he was detained for a week and fined. He claims he was forced to join a “study class” organized by the Government and sent to a detention camp, where he was subjected to both mental and physical abuse. He was again detained for almost a month in March 2004 and interrogated on several occasions before leaving China on 5 June 2004. 2.2 On 6 June 2004 the complainants arrived in Australia on visitors’ visas. A few days after their arrival, the main complainant found out from his mother, who still lived in China, that two of his former employees had been arrested and that they had disclosed information about the complainant’s role in the church and that he had been served with a summons to appear before a court due to his anti-governmental religious activities. On 23 June 2004, the complainant and his family applied for a protection visa. He claimed that he had a well-founded fear of persecution in China on account of his religion, given his involvement in the underground Christian church in China. On 28 June 2004, the application was refused by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. On 2 November 2004, his appeal was refused by the Refugee Review Tribunal. On 7 November 2005, the Federal Magistrates Court upheld the decision. His second application to the Tribunal was refused on 20 February 2006 and his further appeal to the Federal Magistrates Court was refused on 13 September 2006 and thereafter also by the Federal Court of Australia on 21 February 2007. On 16 March 2007, he applied to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship seeking a permanent protection visa for himself and his family, but this was refused on 22 March 2008. Thereafter, in 2008 and 2009, he, his counsel and other third persons, on behalf of him and his family, submitted several letters to the Minister with new information; however in all cases the main complainant was informed that his case would not be re-examined by the Minister, as the further requests in combination with the information known previously did not meet the specific guidelines for referral to the Minister. On an unspecified date in 2010, the complainant submitted to the immigration authorities a copy of the summons of 18 January 2010 of the Fuqing City People’s Court and a copy of the detention notice of 2 February 2010 issued by the Public Security Bureau of Fuqing City. 2.3 The State party authorities refused a protection visa to the complainants on the grounds, inter alia, that “year by year it was becoming easier for Christians to practise their beliefs, particularly in provinces (of the People’s Republic of China) near the coast.”2 Despite the fact that the complainant claimed to be a key leader of the underground church, he was issued with a passport by the Chinese authorities without any obstacles in 2000 and could leave China on 5 June 2004 without any hindrance.3 His claims that he was a key leader of the underground church were contradictory, as he only provided premises and some financial support; his statements were inconsistent; he could not provide any evidence to support, inter alia, the statement that he had been detained on two occasions (once for three weeks) such as an arrest warrant, detention order or document of release, or any medical documentation demonstrating that he had been subjected to ill-treatment while in detention. The underground home churches alone were estimated to have between 30 and 50 million members in China and the Refugee Review Tribunal was not able to satisfy itself 2 3 Decision of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 28 June 2004. Ibid. 3