CAT/C/56/D/562/2013 2.5 The complainant states that from 2008 to 2010, he went to Iraq to work as a security guard.8 He extended his employment contract there as long as possible because he did not want to go back to Uganda. When his contract ended, he had no choice but to return to Uganda, even though he “really was afraid” to return there as he was likely to be arrested, tortured and killed for being gay. 2.6 The complainant submits that when he returned to Uganda, Parliament was debating the anti-homosexuality bill, which would give the Government the legal right to imprison and torture gays, and to impose more severe punishments on homosexuals and those promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. The complainant submits that the law also imposed a duty on Ugandan citizens to report within 24 hours any suspected or encountered homosexual activity; failure to report such activity would result in a three-year prison sentence. 2.7 The complainant states that just before the bill was passed into law, he and his family were harassed by their neighbours, and the media was calling for the “genocide of gays” in Uganda. Given the hostile environment, the complainant fled to Canada.9 He arrived in Canada on 14 October 2010 and filed an application for refugee status on 15 February 2011. The four-month delay occurred because it took him four months to learn about and understand the refugee claim process in Canada. His application was rejected on 19 October 2012. The Refugee Protection Division found that he was not a person in need of protection by Canada. His application to seek leave for a judicial review of that decision was dismissed by the Federal Court of Canada on 20 March 2013. 2.8 The complainant argues that because Canadian law prevents him from filing a preremoval risk assessment application if fewer than 12 months have passed prior to the denial of his refugee claim, he has been deprived of the opportunity to submit new evidence that is relevant to his asylum case. He presents the following documents as new evidence that he risks torture and death if returned to Uganda: (a) an arrest warrant dated 15 November 2012 issued by the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Uganda, which the complainant explains was issued after he had failed to appear in court on 8 November 2012 to answer a charge of “having carnal knowledge against nature”; (b) a court summons from the same court, dated 4 November 2012, stating that the complainant is charged with that same offence; (c) a letter from the Ugandan Police Force, dated 29 October 2012, summoning the complainant to the police station to answer reports from several community leaders that he was promoting homosexuality and recruiting young people for that purpose; (d) a letter issued by Kiwonvu Village Urban Council, dated 28 October 2012, asking the complainant to leave the village; (e) a letter from the complainant’s mother, dated 30 November 2012, warning the complainant of the danger he faced;10 (f) an undated wanted poster bearing the complainant’s photograph, which was allegedly put up in his neighbourhood; and (g) an article entitled “Public Notice” from The Observer newspaper in Uganda, dated 9 November 2012, bearing the complainant’s photograph and stating that he is a homosexual and is wanted by the Security Agency forces. 8 9 10 4 The complainant indicates that after his arrest, he contacted a friend and obtained a job as a security guard in Iraq. He does not specify how much time elapsed between his arrest and the date he left Uganda. The complainant does not provide further details on the reasons for or circumstances behind his departure to Canada. The letter, which is signed “Your mummy Aida [illegible],” states, “Each and every day the security people are searching our house thinking you are hiding in there. I was one day taken and tortured so that I tell them your whereabouts. Even the local community have turned against you, saying that you have joined hands with the whites to spoil their culture by preaching homosexuality”.