Date: 20031002
Docket: IMM-5170-02
Citation: 2003 FC 1142
Toronto, Ontario, October 2nd, 2003
Present: The Honourable Madam Justice Layden-Stevenson
BETWEEN:
IDDI YUSSUF TUMBO MARUZUKU
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board, in its decision dated September 20, 2002, determined that Mr. Maruzuku is not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. He applies for judicial review of that decision.
[2] Mr. Maruzuku is a thirty-year-old citizen of Tanzania. He has been involved with the Civic United Front (CUF), a political opposition party, since 1994 and has been the secretary for its youth programs at his local branch since 1996. Other members of his family are also involved with the CUF. In July, 1996, Mr. Maruzuku, his father, and his uncle were arrested by the police, mistreated and then released, after three weeks, upon payment of bribes. From 1995 until 1998, Mr. Maruzuku was a student studying in Uganda. He remained politically active during the times when he returned home for school breaks. He became a teacher in Tanzania in 1998. He continued his political involvement and actively campaigned for the 2000 general elections. He applied for and was granted a student visa to study at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada commencing in the fall of 2000. He left Tanzania on October 30, 2000. His uncle had agreed to pay for his studies and expenses while he was in Canada.
[3] Mr. Maruzuku alleges that he called his sister three days after his arrival in Canada and learned from her that his father and uncle had been arrested and that the police were looking for him. He says that because he no longer had access to money to pay tuition, he stayed in Toronto and found a job. Canadian immigration officials arrested him in Mississauga, on November 29, 2000, for working illegally. He claims to have told the officials about his problems and says they advised him to seek asylum. CIC denies that any refugee claim was made before January 16, 2001.
[4] The RPD accepted Mr. Maruzuku's personal identity and his identity as a political activist. It did not find his evidence regarding the alleged arrest or his being sought after by police to be credible. He takes issue with that finding and says that it was arbitrary and capricious.
[5] The RPD considered that Mr. Maruzuku had been able to leave the country legally on October 30, 2000, that he was not wanted at that time, and that nothing appeared to have happened in the meantime that would cause him to be of interest to the authorities. It noted that the CUF letter dated August 16, 2002, tendered by Mr. Maruzuku, established that he was a political activist and that he and his father had incurred difficulties in 1996, but it failed to mention any arrest having occurred in 2000. The RPD found it implausible that if the alleged arrest had occurred, it would not have been mentioned. It also considered that Mr. Maruzuku had learned in early November of the alleged arrest, but made no effort to contact immigration officials. Rather, it was only after his arrest on November 29th that he claimed refugee status. It further considered that the alleged arrest was not borne out by the objective documentary evidence regarding treatment of CUF members on the Tanzanian mainland. The RPD determined that the coincidence that the arrests would conveniently occur just as Mr. Maruzuku was arriving in Canada giving him an impetus to claim refugee status was implausible. In my view, that conclusion was reasonably open to the RPD.
[6] Mr. Maruzuku also alleges that the RPD selectively chose to rely on the documentary evidence of country conditions to the exclusion of his evidence in this regard. He says that his sworn evidence is presumed to be true. He additionally says that the RPD erred in finding that conditions had changed in Tanzania so as to remove his well-founded fear.
[7] The RPD did not decide the matter on the basis of a change in country conditions. It did not suggest that Mr. Maruzuku had a well-founded fear in the past that was now minimized by new circumstances. Rather, it specifically noted that prior to his departure, he had been able to exercise his political opinion openly, without harassment. The RPD found that the documentary evidence, including reports of events occurring since Mr. Maruzuku's departure, did not support his claim. The board undertook a thorough analysis of the documentary evidence and referred extensively to numerous sources that supported a conclusion that there was little risk of harm for CUF members in Tanzania. It is open to the board to prefer objective documentary evidence over that of a claimant: Zvonov v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration) (1994), 83 F.T.R. 138 (T.D.); Garcha v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 2002 FCT 1062, F.C.J. 1393. The presumption that a claimant's sworn testimony is true is always rebuttable and, in appropriate circumstances, may be rebutted by the failure of the documentary evidence to mention what one would normally expect it to mention: Adu v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1995] F.C.J. 114 (C.A.). In effect, what Mr. Maruzuku seeks is to have the court re-weigh the evidence. That is not its function.
[8] I am not persuaded that the RPD erred as alleged by Mr. Maruzuku. The grounds argued do not disclose any error that warrants my intervention. The application will be dismissed. Counsel posed no question for certification and I agree that this matter raises no serious question.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Carolyn Layden-Stevenson"
J.F.C.
FEDERAL COURT
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-5170-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: IDDI YUSSUF TUMBO MARUZUKU
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: OCTOBER 2, 2003
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: LAYDEN-STEVENSON, J.
DATED: OCTOBER 2, 2003
APPEARANCES BY: Mr. Dariusz Wroblewski
For the Applicant
Mr. David Tyndale
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Laurence Cohen & Associates
Barristers and Solicitors
Toronto, Ontario
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
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