Date: 20031105
Citation: 2003 FC 1293
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER 2003
Present: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LEMIEUX
BETWEEN:
NIRMAL KAUR
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] Nirmal Kaur (the "applicant") seeks a stay of the execution of her removal order scheduled for November 6, 2003, pending final determination of her application for leave and judicial review of the September 3, 2003, decision of Pre-removal Risk Assessment Officer Charbonneau (the "PRRA officer"), a decision which she received on September 30, 2003.
[2] The applicant is a 41 year old woman, a citizen of India and a Sikh born and raised in the Punjab. She is a failed refugee claimant. The Refugee Division did not believe her story which advanced a well-founded fear of persecution at the hands of the Punjabi police because they suspected her husband, who is in hiding, and herself of being militant supporters.
[3] A judge of this Court on June 11, 2002, refused to grant leave from the Refugee Division's decision.
[4] Her submissions to the PRRA officer alleged the same risks as those advanced to the Immigration and Refugee Board. She adds a new fear - her arrest and detention as a failed returning refugee by the Indian police when she arrives in India. In addition, she filed new evidence to prove the need for Canada's protection either under section 96 or 97 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the "Act").
[5] I am dismissing this stay application on the grounds the applicant failed to establish she would suffer irreparable harm if removed to India. I reach this conclusion for several reasons.
[6] First, as noted, the applicant still claimed before the PRRA officer fear of arrest, torture and rape at the hands of the Punjabi police. In my view, her new evidence (internet articles, a copy of Amnesty International's 2003 report entitled "Break the Cycle of Impunity and Torture in Punjab", a letter from the Sikh Temple in Montreal, two medical certificates from India, an affidavit of the Town Sarpanch and a diagnosis from the West Montreal Counselling Centre) do not fill the gap perceived by the Refugee Division.
[7] The PRRA officer considered and specifically discarded a number of pieces of this new evidence. In other cases, it did not specifically comment on certain documents but my review of them leads me to conclude they do not support her case.
[8] Counsel for the applicant stressed the Amnesty study. I examined that report. While it concludes torture continues after the end of the militancy period, it does not establish the existence today of wholesale torture of the Sikh community in an era of rising militancy. The report acknowledges the targets of torture have changed. The targets now are detainees held in connection with criminal investigations and include members of all religious communities and social group. It does acknowledge women may be the targets of torture.
[9] Second, the documentary evidence considered by the PRRA officer does not support the claimant's fear of arrest as a failed returning refugee.
[10] Third, the PRRA officer considered as an adjunct the existence of a viable IFA, a conclusion which was not seriously challenged by her counsel.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that this stay application is dismissed.
"François Lemieux"
J U D G E
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-8058-03
STYLE OF CAUSE: NIRMAL KAUR v. MCI
PLACE OF HEARING: MONTREAL
DATE OF HEARING: November 3, 2003
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER DATED: November 5, 2003
APPEARANCES:
Mr. STEWART ISTVANFFY FOR THE APPLICANT
Ms. GRETCHEN TIMMINS FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Mr. STEWART ISTVANFFY FOR THE APPLICANT
1070, Bleury Street
Office 503
Montreal, Quebec
H2Z 1N3
Telephone: (514) 876-9776
Fax: (514) 876-9789
Ms. GRETCHEN TIMMINS FOR THE RESPONDENT
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OF CANADA
Complex Guy-Favreau
200, René-Lévesque Blvd. West
East Tour, 5th Floor
Montreal, Quebec
H2Z 1X4
Telephone: (514) 283-5216
Fax: (514) 283-3856