Date: 20001023
Docket: IMM-4716-99
Between:
Amandeep Singh ATWAL
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.:
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision of the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board dated August 24, 1999, determining that the applicant is not a Convention refugee as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. I-2.
[2] At the hearing before the Refugee Division, the applicant claimed that he had been persecuted in India by reason of his political opinion and his membership in a particular social group. The Board found the applicant to be not credible and rejected his claim for the following reasons:
- There has been relative peace in Punjab since 1993; Sikh youths can participate in demonstrations to express their views without danger of the kind of thing the applicant described happening to them.
- The documentary evidence clearly establishes that the All India Sikh Student Federation is a lawful organization that denounced the use of violence several years ago and has adopted a political agenda based on a peaceful approach. Being a member of that organization is therefore not illegal.
- Dr. Cynthia Mahmood, a well-known expert in Sikh militancy in Punjab who regularly advises the Immigration and Refugee Board about Sikh militants and militancy, states in paragraph 12 of her memorandum that she is not aware of any case of harassment of ordinary members of the AISSF.
- The documentary proof also states that Sikh activism was largely eliminated in Punjab several years ago and that all or almost all the leaders of those groups have either left the country and taken refuge in Pakistan or been arrested.
- The document states that the police are interested only in "high profile" activists, that is, "a perceived leader of a militant organization, or someone suspected of a terrorist attack"-- which is not the case of the claimant.
[3] The Board therefore found it implausible that the police would be so interested in the applicant that they pursued and tortured him.
[4] It is settled law that the Board is entitled to rely on documentary evidence in preference to that of the applicant (see Zhou v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (July 18, 1994), A-492-91) and that it must be presumed, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, that the Board considered the totality of the evidence (see Hassan v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1992), 147 N.R. 317 at page 318). After reviewing the evidence and hearing counsel for the parties, I am not satisfied that this specialized tribunal could not reasonably have made the findings it did (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1993), 160 N.R. 315).
[5] The perception on the part of the Refugee Division that the applicant is not credible effectively amounts to a finding that there is no credible evidence to justify his refugee claim (see Sheikh v. Canada (M.E.I.), [1990] 3 F.C. 238, at page 244). The intervention of the Court is
therefore not warranted in this case.
[6] Accordingly, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
October 23, 2000
Certified true translation
Mary Jo Egan, LLB
Date: 20001023
Docket: IMM-4716-99
Ottawa, Ontario, the 23rd day of October 2000
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Pinard
Between:
Amandeep Singh ATWAL
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
ORDER
The application for judicial review of the decision of the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board dated August 24, 1999, determining that the applicant is not a Convention refugee is dismissed.1
YVON PINARD
JUDGE
Certified true translation
Mary Jo Egan, LLB
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT FILE NO.: IMM-4716-99
STYLE OF CAUSE: AMANDEEP SINGH ATWAL v. MCI
PLACE OF HEARING: MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC
DATE OF HEARING: AUGUST 31, 2000
REASONS FOR ORDER OF PINARD J.
DATED OCTOBER 23, 2000
APPEARANCES:
MICHEL LE BRUN FOR THE APPLICANT
ERIC BERNATCHEZ FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
MICHEL LE BRUN FOR THE APPLICANT
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada FOR THE RESPONDENT
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