Date: 19980616
Docket: IMM-4492-97
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, THE 16th DAY OF JUNE 1998
Present: MR. JUSTICE J.E. DUBÉ
Between:
BWA BWA NTAMBUE
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
ORDER
The application for judicial review is dismissed.
Judge
Certified true translation
Peter Douglas
Date: 19980616
Docket: IMM-4492-97
Between:
BWA BWA NTAMBUE
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
DUBÉ J.:
[1] The applicant is a 37-year-old citizen of the DRC-Zaire. He alleges that if he has to return to his country of origin, he will be persecuted for his political convictions, and specifically his membership in the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). In June 1994, the applicant was arrested by President Mobutu"s authorities during a UDPS demonstration. He was then allegedly detained and tortured until his release in December 1994. He left his country to claim refugee status in Canada.
[2] The panel had regard to the change in circumstances in the DRC-Zaire in 1997, in particular the fact that the Mobutu regime was ousted and replaced by the presidency of Laurent Kabila. Because of this circumstance and in light of the documentary evidence, the panel determined that the applicant"s fear is now no longer well-founded.
[3] Counsel for the applicant argued that the panel did not attach sufficient weight to the applicant"s imprisonment and disregarded documentary evidence that UDPS members are still being persecuted, by the new regime now.
[4] It must be kept in mind that, even according to the testimony of the applicant and his witness before the panel, he was only an ordinary member of the party, which is the country"s main opposition party. He himself indicated that he attended the meetings of the local section of the UDPS once or twice per month and helped out by serving coffee and distributing promotional leaflets in his zone.
[5] The panel did a substantial review of the documentary evidence describing the political situation in the DRC-Zaire, which evidence does not refer to any acts of persecution against ordinary UDPS members. Only the leader of the UDPS, Étienne Tshisikedi, and a limited number of those close to him are actively targeted by acts of harassment. From this, the panel concluded [TRANSLATION] "that there is only a remote chance that such a member of the UDPS would be persecuted in the DRC-Zaire for his political activities".
[6] It is within the panel"s jurisdiction to assess the documentary evidence as well as the oral evidence, and it is not for this Court to impose its own interpretation, unless the panel"s conclusion was unreasonable, which is not the case here.
[7] The question of a change in circumstances is a question of fact, as the Federal Court of Appeal pointed out in Yusuf v. Canada1. The change in circumstances in the DRC-Zaire was dealt with in a decision of Mr. Justice Richard of this Court in Vicki Nkongolo-Beyea2. The applicant in that case was also from the DRC-Zaire and a member of the UDPS, and the judge found that the panel"s decision was not unreasonable. He said at page 4: In the instant case, the panel analysed the new political situation in the D.R.C. at length. Although it acknowledged that the political situation in the D.R.C. was not yet ideal, the panel found no evidence to support the applicant"s fear of persecution with respect to the new government of Laurent Kabila.
[8] The panel did not deal with the conviction in absentia, imprisonment and torture the applicant allegedly suffered under the former regime since it based its decision on the change in circumstances in the DRC-Zaire and the remote chance that such a situation would be repeated under the new regime.
[9] In the result, this application for judicial review cannot be allowed. There is no question of general importance to be certified.
OTTAWA, Ontario
June 16, 1998
Judge
Certified true translation
Peter Douglas
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT NO.: IMM-4492-97
STYLE OF CAUSE: Bwa Bwa Ntambue v. M.C.I.
PLACE OF HEARING: Ottawa ON
DATE OF HEARING: June 9, 1998
REASONS FOR ORDER BY DUBÉ J.
DATED June 16, 1998
APPEARANCES:
Ginette Daigle FOR THE APPLICANT
Michèle Joubert FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
LeBlanc, Dioguardi FOR THE APPLICANT
Hull QC
George Thomson FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
__________________1 (1995), 179 N.R. 11 (F.C.A.).
2 IMM-3865-97, May 6, 1998.