Case Study on Credibility Issues

Overview

This is a detailed case study on credibility, which will anchor an important activity during this week's tutorial.

The case study involves a claim by a Sri Lankan Tamil man filed on July 15, 2015 and coming up for a hearing in September 2016. You have been provided below with the following:

1. 1. A Basis of Claim narrative
   2. Documentary evidence submitted by the claimant
   3. A notice of intervention from the Minister filed in accordance with rule 29 of the Refugee Protection Division Rules

The Minister's intervention is on issues of integrity. However, the Minister has not been more specific about the specific credibility concerns being raised.

Your task in advance of the tutorial is to create a list of three or more potential credibility issues that might arise in the claim. We recommend that you work with a small group of your colleagues, if possible. Please come to the tutorial with your answers prepared.During the tutorial, you will brainstorm with your instructor on how to address these issues.

Case Study

Narrative of Sampoorn Venkatramanan (dated July 15, 2015)

1. My name is Sampoorn Venkatramanan, and I was in born on August 11, 1977 in Uddapu, Puttalam, Sri Lanka. I am a citizen of Sri Lanka and no other country. I have lived all my life in Sri Lanka until recent events forced my departure from that country and caused me to flee to Canada.

2. The following are the reasons why I left my country.

3. I am an ethnic Tamil. The village of Uddapu where I grew up is a traditional Tamil fishing and shrimp farming village situated 65 miles (105 km) north of Colombo in the North -Western Province. The population of the village is about 15,000 people. Due to the past history of conflict in the country there is a large number of internal refugees residing in the village. These internal refugees are Tamils from the Trincomalee district in the eastern part of the country. The village is surrounded by Sinhalese villages.

4. Due to the fact that Uddapu was a Tamil fishing village, the population was often perceived by the Sri Lankan authorities as being sympathetic to the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE). There was a belief that the LTTE would use the village to drop off arms to aid in their war against the government. The presence of internal refugees from the East also added to the idea that the LTTE had infiltrated the village.

5. Even though the war has been over since 2009, the government was concerned about the possibility of the LTTE re-arming and starting the war again. In the spring of 2014 this concern again became prominent when the government announced that it had discovered an LTTE cell that had come into the country from overseas tasked with the creation of a new LTTE army. The security forces started to detain young Tamil males suspected of having links to the LTTE.

6. In the summer of 2014 there was an increase in police activity in the village. Initially the police targeted all the boat owners demanding that they register with the police and inform the authorities of when they plan to go fishing, where and for how long. The fishermen also had to have their boats searched by the police before they left and when they arrived back. Particular interest was directed to those families seen to hold pro-LTTE views.

7. The police then began to question other businesses in the village. I was working at Udappu Jewellers, which is located in the main street of the village. We saw the police going from shop to shop asking questions about the type of work we were doing. They also asked what we knew about the local people and whether any were known to be LTTE sympathizers. The police were particularly interested in the fact that we traveled to Colombo to obtain our goods on a regular basis and that I was the person responsible for doing that.

8. After a few weeks the police started to detain people in the village for questioning. It was thought that the focus of the police would be towards those people who had come from the East, but that was not the case. It soon became apparent that the police were looking at Tamil males as the prime group of people to question.

9. In August 2014 I had just come back from Colombo where I had been on business. One evening I was at home when I heard a knock on the door. I opened the door to see three policemen standing there. They asked me my name and demanded to see my ID. They then asked me to accompany them. When I asked what the reason for going with them was, they said I had to be questioned.

10. I was taken to the local police station where I was detained for 2 days. During that time I was asked about my family, my job and my travels to Colombo. I was also asked about my views on the LTTE. I was asked whether I was a member of the LTTE, whether I knew any LTTE members or anyone who sympathised with the LTTE. I was asked about the goods I brought back to the village and whether I ever brought back unknown packages for people.

11. During the time I was detained I was questioned four times. The questions were always the same but there was always a different police officer. A couple of them spoke to me in harsh tones but I was not ill-treated. On the second day I was released. There were no conditions to my release, but I was told to report to the police if I heard or saw anything suspicious.

12. The situation appeared to be getting worse as time went by. In approximately November 2014 there were rumours that the LTTE had been reported to have dropped off guns on a beach further on up north. The police activity in the village became much more noticeable and once again people were called in for questioning.

13. I was called in for questioning by the police on two other occasions; in December 2014 and January 2015. On these occasions the police were much more threatening in nature. In January 2015, I was actually struck by one of the police officers across the face. It was clear that the police were frustrated because they wanted to apprehend someone as a LTTE member.

14. In April 2015 an employee in the clothing shop next door to where I worked was arrested by the police. He was accused of smuggling arms to the village from Colombo. According to the police he had been smuggling arms once a month for the past year previously. All we heard from the man's family was that he was taken into detention and that they were unable to get in contact with him.

15. In May 2015 I was again detained by the police. This time I was informed that the employee in the shop next store had indicated that I also been transporting arms to the village for the LTTE. I do not know why he said that. I suspect he was being ill-treated by the authorities and he may have provided such information under duress.

16. I was repeatedly beaten by the police and accused of lying to them in the past. One of them placed a chair on my left foot, which was bare, and pressed it down so hard that he broke one of the bones. The police officers also extinguished cigarettes on my arm and chest. The police suggested that there was a LTTE cell in the village and that I should name names. I was also told that I was going to be brought to Colombo where I would be treated even worse. I was absolutely terrified.

17. On the second day of my detention, in the evening, one of the police officers came to the room where I was being kept. He ordered that I go with him. I was able to follow him, limping. I was afraid I was going to be beaten and questioned again. He took to a side door and then told me to get lost. When I stepped out, I was outside. I stumbled a few feet and saw my father standing there. He immediately took me to my cousin's house. There he told me that he paid a bribe for my release. He said that the police would say I escaped.

18. That same night I was brought to Colombo where I stayed with a friend of my father's. My father's friend arranged with a smuggler to get me out of the country. Given that I was not released legally, it would be perceived that I was a member of the LTTE. I left Sri Lanka on June 15, 2015 using a false passport. I arrived in Canada on June 30, 2015. The smuggler kept the false passport.

19. I have been in contact with my family since I arrived into Canada and they have advised me that the police have come to the house looking for me. The police are convinced that since I have disappeared, I am a member of the LTTE. They said that I would be arrested should they catch me. I believe that if I return to Sri Lanka, I will be arrested by the authorities as a suspected member of the LTTE. I believe I will be detained and possibly killed. Based on this I claim refugee protection in Canada.

II. Other Evidence Submitted by Claimant

• Document 1: National Identity Card for Sampoorn Venkatramanan
• Document 2: Sri Lanka Birth Certificate for Sampoorn Venkatramanan
• Document 3: Medical report

Document 1: National Identity Card for Sampoorn Venkatramanan

Note: Assume the Identity Card does not have requisite security features such as a letter for the province of issue.

Document 2: Sri Lanka Birth Certificate

Name of father (full name): illegible

Address of father: illegible

Religion of father: Hindu

Name of mother (full name): Dakshata Chettiar

Address of mother: illegible

Religion of mother: illegible

Name of infant: Samporn Venkatramanann

Place of birth: illegible

Date of birth: illegible

Registrar Division and date: portion torn off

Document 3: Medical report

The claimant submitted a medical report prepared by a physician in Toronto and dated July 3, 2015. The report consists of a handwritten note stating: "Patient presented with severe soreness and swelling in left foot. X-ray determined cause -- broken cuboid. Patient presented with 2 circular burn marks on left arm, 1 circular burn mark on the right arm, and 2 burn marks on upper chest. Marks recently healed, consistent with cigarette burns. Signed, Doctor Malodorous Octopus." The note is on letterhead and contains Dr. Octopus's physician's license number. Assume it is genuine.

Minister's Notice of Intervention

15 days prior to the hearing, you receive written notice (under rule 29 of the Refugee Protection Division Rules) that the Minister intends to intervene in the claim. The notice states that the Minister will intervene in person on integrity grounds. The Notice of Intervention includes the following two pieces of evidence:

• Document 4: biometrics report indicating that a subject with fingerprints matching Sampoorn Venkatramanan's but using the name Silva Kuchamanthapan and with the birthdate December 6, 1981 entered the United Kingdom on May 5, 2013 and made an asylum claim.
• Document 5: An Ontario birth certificate for a child, Joseph Venkatramanan, that lists "Sampoorn Venkatramanan" as father.

Document 4: Biometrics Report

Fingerprints were submitted on July 2, 2015 to partner countries. A match was returned by the United Kingdom on August 1, 2015.

Date Fingerprinted by UK Authorities: May 5, 2011

Purpose of Fingerprints: Asylum Claim

Name of Subject: Silva Kuchamanthapan

Date of Birth: December 6, 1981

Document 5: Province of Ontario Birth Certificate

SURNAME: V

GIVEN NAME: JOSEPH

DATE OF BIRTH: August 15, 2016

PLACE OF BIRTH: Toronto, Ontario

DATE OF REGISTRATION: August 17, 2016

FATHER'S NAME: Sampoorn Venkatramanan

FATHER'S PLACE OF BIRTH: Uddappu, Sri Lanka

MOTHER'S NAME: Maheshwari Thanjaraayar

MOTHER'S PLACE OF BIRTH: Jaffna, Sri Lanka