Date: 20000828
Docket: IMM-477-00
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, AUGUST 28, 2000
BEFORE: TREMBLAY-LAMER J.
Between:
PATINO HURTADO CARLOS
VELASQUEZ VASQUEZ NORMA SULEMI
PATINO VELASQUEZ JUAN DAVID
PATINO VELASQUEZ LAURA
Plaintiffs
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Defendant
O R D E R
The application for judicial review is dismissed.
Danièle Tremblay-Lamer
JUDGE
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, LL.L. Trad. a.
Date: 20000828
Docket: IMM-477-00
Between:
PATINO HURTADO CARLOS
VELASQUEZ VASQUEZ NORMA SULEMI
PATINO VELASQUEZ JUAN DAVID
PATINO VELASQUEZ LAURA
Plaintiffs
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Defendant
REASONS FOR ORDER
TREMBLAY-LAMER J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board ("Refugee Division") on January 11, 2000, that the plaintiffs are not Convention refugees.
[2] The principal plaintiff, Carlos Patino Hurtado, and his wife Norma Sulemi Velazquez Vasquez, and their children Juan David and Laura Patino Velazquez, are citizens of Colombia. The entire family based its claim on that of the principal plaintiff, who alleged he had a well-founded fear of persecution for his supposed political opinions.
[3] The principal plaintiff is a prosperous leading businessman in Cali, Colombia. He owned profitable commercial enterprises and is still the owner of real estate valued at U.S. $1,500,000.
[4] The National Liberation Army ("ELN"), a guerilla force active in Colombia, sought to extort money from the principal plaintiff. To do this the ELN threatened him and his family with death and imprisonment.
[5] Persons in the same position as the principal plaintiff were imprisoned by the guerilla force and released after paying large sums of money. The plaintiff indicated that their imprisonment and release were followed by messages to be given to the Colombian government, such as the release of members of the guerilla force held by the government, the repatriation of licences for foreign exploitation of oil resources, the prohibition of fumigation of coca plantations by the U.S. government, the intervention of the Colombian government to put an end to para-military groups and so on.
[6] The panel concluded that the plaintiffs were not Convention refugees, since they had been targeted by the guerillas for economic and not political reasons. The fear was not linked to one of the five grounds in the Convention.
[7] In view of the evidence in the record, and in particular the fact that the principal plaintiff's PIF expressly indicated that the plaintiffs were persecuted on account of their economic position, it was not unreasonable for the panel to conclude that the plaintiffs were not victims of persecution because of their supposed political opinions but actually because of the principal plaintiff's economic situation.
[8] In fact, I found no evidence in the record that the ELN targeted the plaintiffs for their supposed political opinions, as suggested by counsel for the plaintiffs.
[9] The application for judicial review is accordingly dismissed.
Danièle Tremblay-Lamer
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
August 28, 2000
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, LL.L. Trad. a.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT No.: IMM-477-00
STYLE OF CAUSE: PATINO HURTADO CARLOS et al.
v.
MCI
PLACE OF HEARING: MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC
DATE OF HEARING: AUGUST 17, 2000
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: TREMBLAY-LAMER J.
DATED: AUGUST 28, 2000
APPEARANCES:
PAUL FRÉCHETTE FOR THE APPLICANT
ÉDITH SAVARD FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
PAUL FRÉCHETTE FOR THE APPLICANT
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada