IMM-3581-96
B E T W E E N:
RAMIN NOORI
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
ROTHSTEIN, J.:
In this judicial review of a September 3rd, 1996 decision of a panel of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the applicant says that the panel erred in finding that the applicant's fear of harm in returning to Afghanistan is not connected to the grounds set out in the statutory definition of Convention Refugee in the Immigration Act (see Rizkallah v. M.E.I. (1992), 156 N.R. 1 (F.C.A.)).
The applicant says that in 1991 when he was in grade 8 he became a scout with the Youth Organization of the ruling Parcham Party. He says that he had been told at his school about attempts by the Mujahadeen to poison the water supply. That same year he informed the authorities at his school that another student, Rahim, was going to poison the water supply. As a result Rahim was arrested and imprisoned.
The applicant says that as a result of his actions he and his family were threatened by the Rahim family, that he fled to Pakistan and that his brother was taken hostage, was sent to fight for the Mujahadeen and was kill within one day of his arrival on the front. The panel found:
| It is clear to this panel that what the claimant and his family experienced was terrible but it was not for a Convention reason. It was pure revenge by Rahim who was able to use other members of the Jamiat-i-Islami to help him in his actions of revenge. The claimant when he was a 12 year old student was not reporting on Rahim's activity at the water tank because he held a political opinion but because he was following the school's rules to report anything suspicious at the water tanks. There was no credible evidence presented that Rahim was seeking revenge for anything more than that the claimant angered him by getting him imprisoned for wrong doing. |
Whether the applicant has a fear of revenge from another family or a fear of persecution with political overtones is a question of fact for the panel. The applicant's Personal Information Form refers to his belonging to the Parcham Youth Organization and implies that Rahim was associated with the Mujahadeen in attempting to poison the school's water supply. The applicant's oral evidence suggests that his primary fear was that the Rahim family would eliminate him if he returned to Afghanistan. The panel did not find a political connection to the fear the applicant expressed. While the panel might on the evidence have found a political connection, I cannot say that it was perverse or capricious or unreasonable for the panel to conclude that the applicant's fear was of personal revenge not associated with political activities and was therefore not within the definition of Convention refugee.
As to the applicant's fear that he would be recruited to fight if he returned to Afghanistan, the panel found that this fear was not substantiated by any documentary evidence. In Adu v. M.E.I. Court File A-191-92, a January 24, 1995 decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, Hugessen J.A. states:
| 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. |
It appears here that the panel was not satisfied that the applicant's fear was well-founded because it was not supported by documentary evidence. It was open to the panel to make such a finding .
In view of the fact that the panel did not err in finding that the applicant's fear of harm was not within the definition of Convention refugee under the Immigration Act, it is not necessary to consider whether the panel erred in its Internal Flight Alternative finding.
While the applicant's case is one deserving of some sympathy, I cannot say that the panel erred so as to warrant the intervention of this Court.
This judicial review is dismissed.
"Marshall E. Rothstein"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
July 3, 1997
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-3581-96
STYLE OF CAUSE: RAMIN NOORI
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
DATE OF HEARING: JULY 2, 1997
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: ROTHSTEIN, J.
DATED: JULY 3, 1997
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Yossi Schwartz
For the Applicant
Mr. Jeremiah Eastman
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Rodney L.H. Woolf
100-1474 Bathurst Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5P 3G9
For the Applicant
George Thomson
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Court No.: IMM-3581-96
Between:
RAMIN NOORI
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER