CCPR/C/114/D/2280/2013 international protection include certain opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists, women and children, and persons suspected of having certain links to LTTE.11 In relation to the case of persons suspected of having certain links to LTTE, the State party maintains that the link should be significant and concrete.12 4.11 The State party maintains that the author has not demonstrated that he is a person who is suspected of having significant and concrete links with LTTE. His own accounts show that the Army never arrested or detained him on the basis of the Army’s own belief in his association with LTTE. Two of the three arrests were as a result of PLOTE using its influence with the Army to arrest him as retribution for his unwillingness to do free masonry work for PLOTE and for having filed a complaint against PLOTE with the police. On the other occasion, he was not the sole target of the Army; rather he was one of 18 people detained in a general round-up. On all those occasions, he was released by the Army after his father paid a bribe. Moreover, he was able to obtain a Sri Lankan passport in 2009, without any problem. 4.12 The State party submits that the author has not established that he is at risk of persecution in Sri Lanka as a failed asylum seeker. There is no information that indicates that a Sri Lankan Tamil who is a failed asylum seeker would be at risk simply by returning to Sri Lanka. Reports on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka indicate that the police or the military in certain areas may briefly interview and/or detain some returning Tamil individuals within the first weeks after their arrival. 13 However, there is no systematic detention of returning Tamils at the airport in Colombo, and the authorities’ interest in returning Tamils appears to be with respect of those who may, owing to their political activities in Sri Lanka or in the diaspora, be perceived as a risk to the unitary Sri Lankan State or its Government. 4.13 The State party notes that the author’s communication has not specifically made allegations of persecution by PLOTE before the Committee; that PLOTE is a non-State actor that, with the end of the civil war, has evolved into a criminal organization engaged in the extortion of civilians to supplement its dwindling resources; and that the even if the author would face a risk of serious harm from that group upon return to Sri Lanka, he has not provided any evidence to show that the Sri Lankan authorities are unwilling or unable to protect him from PLOTE.14 Furthermore, even if that were the case, the risk would be from the local members of PLOTE in and around Vavuniya, where the author lived between 2006 and 2009. Therefore, he would have an internal flight alternative, with respect to any arguable risk posed by PLOTE, to either Jaffna or Colombo.15 In that respect, the State party notes that reports on country conditions in Sri Lanka indicate that the nature and influence of PLOTE has changed since 2009: its ties with the Sri Lankan authorities have been significantly reduced; its operations are mainly focused on the Northern Province; and its force has diminished to the point that the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines contain barely any information on it, noting that it is difficult to find information regarding the current activities of groups such as PLOTE.16 11 12 13 14 15 16 The State party refers to the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines, pp. 26-37. The State party refers to the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines, pp. 26-28. The State party refers to the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines, p. 7-8; and the United Kingdom: Home Office, Operational Guidance Note: Sri Lanka, July 2013, para. 6.1-6.3. The State party refers to the Committee’s jurisprudence in communication No. 1302/2004, Dawood Khan v. Canada, decision adopted on 25 July 2006, para 5.6. The State party refers to the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines, p. 5; and United Kingdom: Home Office, Operational Guidance Note: Sri Lanka, July 2013, para. 2.2.16. The State party refers to the 2012 UNHCR Guidelines; United States Department of State, 2012 Country Reports; Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Sri Lanka, “Untold Stories: Paramilitary 9