Date: 20030711
Docket: IMM-3969-02
Citation: 2003 FC 843
Between:
Kuldeep Kaur SHIAH
Plaintiff
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Defendant
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board ("the IRB") on July 29, 2002, that the plaintiff is not a Convention refugee as defined in s. 2(1) of the Immigration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-2.
[2] The plaintiff is a citizen of India and alleged she had a well-founded fear of persecution for her alleged political opinions and membership in a particular social group, namely women who had been raped by the police.
[3] The IRB based its decision on a lack of credibility by the plaintiff.
[4] After reviewing the evidence, I am not persuaded that the decision by this specialized tribunal was based on an erroneous finding of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it (s. 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7). On the contrary, the inconsistencies and contradictions in the plaintiff's testimony, in view of the documentary evidence, and the vague and imprecise nature of her story, allowed the IRB to reasonably conclude as it did (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1993), 160 N.R. 315 (F.C. Appeal)). The following lacunae and contradictions, to mention only a few, seem especially important. First, the birth certificate of the sister and nephew were not entered in evidence. There was also no evidence that the plaintiff's father and the father of her alleged sister had the same name. There was therefore no documentary evidence establishing that the well-known singers were actually the plaintiff's sister and brother-in-law. The two articles taken from the Internet giving the history of Chamkila, the brother-in-law, contradicted the plaintiff's testimony. The latter initially testified that her sister, Amarjyot, had a son who was four years old when she was killed, and then that she had another child in the month preceding the event. She also testified that her brother-in-law had been killed for his political opinions. The articles actually indicated that Amarjyot was pregnant at the time of the murder and that Chamkila was a target either because of words with sexual overtones he used in his songs or because of the jealousy other singers felt toward him.
[5] Accordingly, this Court's intervention is not justified and the application for judicial review is dismissed.
|
|
"Yvon Pinard"
Judge |
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
July 11, 2003
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, C. Tr., LL.L.
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
FILE: IMM-3969-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: Kuldeep Kaur SHIAH v. THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: June 19, 2003
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: Pinard J.
DATED: July 11, 2003
APPEARANCES:
Eveline Fiset FOR THE PLAINTIFF
François Joyal FOR THE DEFENDANT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Eveline Fiset FOR THE PLAINTIFF
Montréal, Quebec
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE DEFENDANT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario