CCPR/C/113/D/2272/2013 The facts as presented by the author 2.1 The author used to live with his aunt in a village of the Jaffna peninsula in the northern part of Sri Lanka. His two brothers were killed by the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (hereinafter “EPDP”) and the military in 1990. During the period between 1994 and 1997, he participated in meetings and demonstrations supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (hereinafter “LTTE”). As other Tamils were, during this period, he was regularly stopped and harassed and even beaten at checkpoints established by the Sri Lankan Army and EPDP. 2.2 In 2007, the author was working in his cousin’s tailor shop and, during the conflict between LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army, they provided clothes and food free of charge to some LTTE members. One night, EPDP paramilitaries burnt down his cousin’s shop and other shops in the same neighbourhood and shot at people. The following morning, the author and his cousin went to the local police station to complain about the arson. The police made a report but did not take further action. The author’s cousin reopened his shop a few weeks later. However, shortly after, two persons, whom the author identified as EPDP members, came to the shop and asked the author’s cousin to close it and to follow them. The author was told by his cousin to go home. On his way across the fields, the author saw his cousin being shot dead. Shortly after his cousin’s death, the author was approached by some people in a grocery store who asked him if he knew who had killed his cousin. The author assumed they were EPDP members and denied any knowledge about the murder and stressed that he had not complained about it to the police. 2.3 Following this incident, fearing harassment by EPDP, the author moved with his wife and two daughters to another village, Point Pedro, where no one knew him. After one year in Point Pedro, hearing that someone had enquired with his aunt as to his whereabouts, the author moved with his family to another village, Palai, located at roughly two hours by bus from his village of origin. He settled in Palai with his family, at his in-laws’ house, where his wife and children are still living. The author alleges that, in spite of the distance from his village, he did not feel safe and still wished to leave the country. He tried to save enough money to do so, but did not manage to save enough to buy a plane ticket, so he went to his native village at the beginning of 2012 to borrow money from his aunt who was still living there. On 1 February 2012, the author left Sri Lanka via Bandaranaike International Airport, with a passport obtained from an agent paid by the author. The author’s aunt subsequently reported that, following his last visit in 2012, two persons came to look for him.2 2.4 The author arrived in Denmark on 30 May 2012.3 He was interviewed by the police on 8 June 2012 and applied for asylum on 11 June 2012.4 The author was interviewed by the Danish Immigration Service on 16 November 2012. On 18 December 2012, the author’s asylum request was rejected. On 13 May 2013, the Refugee Appeals Board rejected his appeal and confirmed the decision of the Danish Immigration Service not to grant him asylum. On 10 June 2012, the Ministry of Justice refused to grant him a residence permit on humanitarian grounds. 2 3 4 The author does not specify the date. He states that his aunt reported that two persons came to see her and asked for him but “without mentioning his name”. The author does not provide further details about his journey between Sri Lanka and Denmark. In its observations, the State party indicates that the author filed his asylum application on the day of his arrival, 30 May 2012. 3