IMM-3929-96
B E T W E E N:
EMENE BIE
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
RICHARD, J.:
The applicant seeks to set aside the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the "Board") dated October 2nd, 1996, wherein the Board determined that the applicant is not a Convention refugee.
Central to the decision of the Board was its finding, based on the documentary evidence that while the applicant was a member of the U.P.L.C., a clandestine political party not legally recognized in Zaire, he was not an active member of that political party in Zaire and did not play any leadership role in it. As a result the Board concluded that he had a low profile and had not drawn the attention of the governing authorities to himself. The Board also discounted his testimony concerning his arrest because of his low political profile and the failure of the president of the party to mention it in his response to a written inquiry from the Board.
On the basis of the record before it, this finding is patently unreasonable and unfair. In his PIF and oral evidence the applicant stated that he was not only a member of the party but also its vice-president. He stated that he actively participated in its meetings and recruitment. He claimed that he was arrested after an informer had disclosed his activities.
The applicant produced two documents before the Board which attested to his membership in the party in Zaire and to his office as vice-president of a local cell. The Board wrote to the president of the party to confirm the authenticity of this information. The president responded in writing confirming the facts set out in the documents and adding that the applicant was an active member of the party in Zaire. In response to an inquiry from the RCO at the hearing, the applicant and his counsel agreed that the Board could, if it wished, obtain further information from the president of the party. The Board decided not to so do.
As a result, it was unreasonable for the Board to comment that the president did not confirm the arrest of the applicant when the Board did not seek such confirmation.
While the Board also found that the applicant's party had not participated in public demonstrations, it is not possible to determine how much its determination was influenced by its finding that the applicant did not have an active leadership role in his party contrary to the documentary evidence it had before it.
Accordingly, the decision is set aside and remitted to a differently constituted tribunal.
"John D. Richard"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
May 7, 1997
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-3929-96
STYLE OF CAUSE: EMENE BIE
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
DATE OF HEARING: MAY 6, 1997
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: RICHARD, J.
DATED: MAY 7, 1997
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Raoul S. Boulakia
For the Applicant
Mr. John Loncar
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Raoul S. Boulakia
45 Saint Nicholas Street
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 1W6
For the Applicant
George Thomson
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Court No.: IMM-3929-96
Between:
EMENE BIE
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER