CAT/C/57/D/583/2014
in 2009 not credible. The Division reasoned that if the police had, as alleged, sent 12 police
officers hundreds of kilometres away to arrest the complainant in Chandigarh, brought him
back to Punjab under police escort and accused him of conspiring to murder an important
leader, it was neither logical nor plausible that he would be released two days later and
permitted to keep his passport. Nor was it logical that 12 police officers would have located
the complainant, given that he was regularly moved by his agent (who did not provide his
real name to landlords), that the complainant lived in hiding and did not go out and that he
did not know the addresses of the places to which he was taken. The Division found the
complainant’s only explanation — that his parent’s telephone may have been wiretapped —
to be unsatisfactory, as there is no credible evidence that the police in Punjab have the
means or resources to do this.
4.4
The Division also noted that the complainant had no difficulty leaving India on a
valid passport and with a Canadian student visa, despite being allegedly suspected by police
of conspiring to assassinate a leader. The Division referred to a decision of the Federal
Court of Canada, in which it is stated that the fact that a refugee protection claimant is able
to leave his country using a legal passport, without any evidence that officials were bribed
to permit his departure, is a factor indicating that the claimant is not being sought by the
authorities.5 During his hearing before the Division, the complainant was represented by
counsel, had access to the assistance of an accredited interpreter, was able to provide oral
testimony and respond to questions asked. The complainant’s actions demonstrate a
complete lack of subjective fear and, rather, as noted by the Division, the preparations he
made over a three-year period are evidence of his intention to study abroad as he had been
doing in Canada. The complainant took English courses in 2009 and applied for a Canadian
student visa after enrolling in the Management and Health Care Technology programme in
a Canadian university.
4.5
The complainant has not substantiated his allegations of past torture. He has not
provided contemporaneous documents or official documents of any kind to corroborate his
account that he was detained by the local police. Nor has he provided credible
contemporaneous evidence to support his allegations of torture. He relies on an affidavit
from S. that does not suggest that S. has any personal knowledge of the alleged torture. The
statements in the affidavit are also vague. S. does not indicate how he learned of the
information provided in his statement, he does not refer to any dates when asserting that the
complainant was tortured, he is vague as to the number of occasions he believes the torture
occurred and he does not provide any specific details regarding the events. Moreover, the
affidavit is not contemporaneous — it is dated 28 February 2013, more than three years
after the complainant’s alleged encounter with the police. As such, the affidavit has little
probative value. The letter that the complainant submitted from a medical doctor was
prepared more than a year and a half after the complainant alleges that the last event
involving the police occurred. It is neither a contemporaneously prepared medical record
nor a notarized affidavit. The description of the complainant’s injuries is very general and
no reason is given for the conclusion that common injuries such as these would be
attributable to police beatings. Furthermore, the letter does not state — nor is there any
reason to conclude — that the complainant was subjected to torture. This document is also
of little probative value.
4.6
Even if the complainant’s allegations that he was tortured in the past are accepted as
proven, the complainant has not provided sufficient evidence to substantiate that he would
be at a personal risk of torture in the future upon return to India. The complainant left
Punjab several years ago; he has not claimed to be a high-profile Sikh militant, nor does he
even claim to have any association with or knowledge of Sikh militants. In fact, at no time
5
4
The State party cites Ma v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2011 FC 417.
GE.16-09779