CCPR/C/116/D/2314/2013 4.8 The State party also considers that the author has not substantiated his allegation that he would be at risk if forcibly returned to Sri Lanka owing to his profile as a young Tamil from the North and a failed asylum seeker, and that such a profile would lead the authorities to believe that he had or has connections with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The State party notes that the author has never claimed to have any ties to that group and states that the mere fact of being a Tamil from the North would not expose him to a real risk.27 Furthermore, the only consequence of being a failed asylum seeker may only be that he is subject to additional questioning.28 The State party states that the author would not be suspected of having significant connections to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as he has never claimed so, and the only time that he has mentioned it was during his detention in February 2007 by the Sri Lankan Army. On that occasion, the soldiers allegedly asked him if he had any connections to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which he denied. The State party states that, even if this account was accepted as credible, nothing indicates that the Sri Lankan authorities would seriously consider that the author had links to the group. Therefore, the State party’s considers that the claim on this matter is prospective only. 4.9 Regarding the author’s claim that the fact that his travel document was issued by the Sri Lankan authorities at the request of the Canadian authorities exposes him to a further risk, the State party refers to country reports, according to which the issuance of such documents is not a risk factor. According to such reports, once Sri Lankan authorities receive the request to issue the travel document, they may review their records to assess if the person in question has any current links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, but they only focus on those individuals who pose a real risk to the unitary Sri Lankan State or the Government.29 As the author does not fall under these categories, he would not be subjected to additional scrutiny. Regarding the author’s claim that he would be targeted by members of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party if returned to Sri Lanka, the State party indicates that, after the end of the conflict, paramilitary groups, including the Party, have turned into criminal gangs whose main tool is extortion. 30 As the Party seems to focus its operations in the North of Sri Lanka, the State party considers that, in the event that he was harassed or extorted by the Party, the author could move to another part of the country, such as Colombo. 4.10 The State party submits that any decision by the Committee to consider the communication admissible would be entirely without merit. The State party reiterates its arguments regarding the lack of substantiation of the author’s claims, due to the lack of credibility, and of corroborative evidence. The State party reiterates that, at best, the author contributed with some photographs to the Uthayan between the end of October 2006 and 2007 and that he may have been detained and mistreated in 2007. However, he was not able to demonstrate that he was detained by soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army owing to his work for the newspaper, and that he had lived in Sri Lanka from 2007 to 2008 and in 2011. The 27 28 29 30 10 The State party quotes, among others, UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines (see note 8 above), which state that “originating from an area that was previously controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam does not in itself result in a need for international refugee protection in the sense of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol”. The State party indicates that, according to the UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines (see note 8 above), the police or the military in certain areas may interview and/or detain some returning Tamil individuals within the first weeks after arrival. Ibid, pp.7 and 8. Reference is also made to United Kingdom Immigration and Asylum Chamber, GJ and others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC), available from www.refworld.org/pdfid/51da951c4.pdf. See United Kingdom Immigration and Asylum Chamber, GJ and others (post-civil war: returnees) Sri Lanka CG [2013] UKUT 00319 (IAC), available from www.refworld.org/pdfid/51da951c4.pdf. See United States Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013: Sri Lanka (27 February 2014), available from www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/sca/220404.htm.