Date: 20050308
Docket: IMM-2314-04
Citation: 2005 FC 336
Toronto, Ontario, March 8th, 2005
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell
BETWEEN:
JOSE VICENTE DIAZ
SANDRA PATRICIA BELTRAN MORALES
JOSE ESTEBAN DIAZ BELTRAN
SANTIAGO DIAZ BELTRAN
Applicants
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] In the present case, the Principal Applicant, Jose Vincente Diaz, claims refugee protection on the basis of a well-founded fear of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia ("FARC"). The basis for the Principal Applicant's fear is that, if he is identified by FARC as a military reservist from an anti-guerrilla navel battalion, he will certainly suffer more than a mere possibility of persecution and probability of risk should he return to Columbia.
[2] A central issue in the case before the Refugee Protection Division ("RPD") was whether the Principal Applicant could be identified by FARC as a military reservist. It is agreed that an established method of proving identification by men in Columbia is the production of their military reserve card. With respect to the Principal Applicant's card, the RPD found as follows:
The fact that he belonged to an anti-guerilla battalion does not put him at greater risk because this information does not appear on his military reserve card, so there would be no obvious clue if a guerilla group were to stop him.
(RPD Decision, p .8.)
It is agreed that, given the evidence presented before the RPD of the contents of the Principal Applicant's card, the quoted finding of fact is erroneous. In my opinion the erroneous finding is central to the Applicants' claim for refugee protection. As a result, I find that the RPD's decision is rendered in reviewable error.
ORDER
Accordingly, I set aside the RPD's decision and refer the matter back to a differently constituted panel for redetermination.
"Douglas R. Campbell"
J.F.C.
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-2314-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: JOSE VICENTE DIAZ, SANDRA PATRICIA BELTRAN MORALES, JOSE ESTEBAN DIAZ BELTRAN, SANTIAGO DIAZ BELTRAN
Applicants
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: MARCH 8, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER:
AND ORDER BY: CAMPBELL J.
APPEARANCES:
Gregory J. Lyndon For the Applicants
John Loncar For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Gregory J. Lyndon
Barrister & Solicitor For the Applicants
Toronto, Ontario
John H. Sims, Q.C. For the Respondent
Deputy Attorney General of Canada