Advance unedited version CAT/C/60/D/701/2015
complainant and told him that they were keeping an eye on him. Around a month later, the
complainant left Pakistan transiting through Indonesia. There he registered with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. On 1 May 2012, he arrived on Christmas Island
by boat. On 20 August 2012, he applied for a protection visa.
2.5
The complainant submits a history sheet and discharge notes, dated 18 February
2012, from a hospital in Quetta. It is noted on the history sheet that when visiting the
hospital the complainant had multiple bruises on his back and upper arms due to having
been assaulted by unknown persons and that he was severely depressed and agitated. The
complainant was discharged from the hospital on the same day. He notes that during the
hospital visit he told the doctor that he had been beaten by unknown persons as he was
afraid to tell the doctor that he had been detained and beaten by the authorities. He also
submits a medical note from a psychiatrist at a medical centre in Australia, dated 24 June
2015 in which it is noted that he has been diagnosed with depression and suffers from
anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. He further submits a letter from a
mental health professional, dated 8 March 2013 according to which he has been diagnosed
with depression.
2.6
On 9 October 2012, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship rejected the
author’s application for a protection visa. Relying on country information 2 the Department
accepted the complainant’s claim that he had been abducted from his friend’s workshop by
government authorities, as it was found to be plausible that the authorities would have been
suspicious of S.A, given the latter’s alleged involvement in activities advocating for a free
Balochistan. Referring to country reports3 the Department further accepted that the
complainant had been arbitrarily detained and that he was beaten by the authorities during
this detention. The Department however did not accept that the complainant would have
been detained for ten days, given that he did not have a personal profile which would have
been of interest to the authorities and given that he was not able to provide the authorities
with any information about S.A. The Department found that the complainant’s association
with persons of Baloch ethnicity would not have given him a profile which would have
warranted attention from the authorities given that Balochistan is ethnically diverse. The
Department found that the fact that the complainant and two of the other persons detained
at the same time as him were released, while S.A was not, demonstrates that the authorities
had no interest in the complainant and his other friends but were targeting S.A. For the
same reasons the Department did not accept the complainant’s claim that he had been asked
to spy on behalf of the authorities or that he had been contacted by them again after his
release. The Department also noted the complainant’s statement that he had spent a further
35 days in Pakistan before leaving the country without being contacted by the authorities,
which the Department found to be further indication of him being of little interest to the
authorities. The Department therefore found that there were no substantial grounds for
2
3
In the decision of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship reference is made to country
information in ‘Pakistan: State of the world’s minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 – Pakistan,
Minority Rights Group International, 28 June 2012’ and ‘Pakistan: Country of Origin Information
Report, UK Home Office, UK Border Agency, 7 June 2012’ and it is noted that a conflict exists
between persons of Balochi ethnicity and the Government of Pakistan. It is further noted that state
actors reportedly play a central role in the violence, targeting ethnic Balochis suspected or engaging
in nationalist activities, including the abduction of ethnic Balochis in broad daylight and in public
areas. It is also noted in the decision that the victims are often men in their mid-20s to mid-40s,
suspected of alleged participation in Baloch nationalist parties and movements, who are often taken
away from shops and places of work.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Pakistan, United States Department of State, 24 May
2012.
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