Date: 20040617
Docket: IMM-2680-03
Citation: 2004 FC 858
BETWEEN:
KIABIYA LONGANU
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the IRB), dated March 20, 2003, that the applicant is not a Convention refugee or a "person in need of protection" within the meaning of sections 96 and 97, respectively, of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27.
[2] Kiabiya Longanu (the applicant) is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo and she alleges that she is a refugee and a person in need in protection because of her perceived political opinion.
[3] The IRB determined that the applicant was not credible. The panel pointed out that her testimony was vague, hesitant and imprecise, and that she had been unable to provide satisfactory explanations regarding the many contradictions, implausibilities and inconsistencies in her story. Among other things, the IRB criticized the applicant for having disposed of the passport, plane ticket and boarding passes in question without providing reasonable explanations.
[4] It is settled law that in matters of credibility and assessment of the facts, this Court cannot substitute its opinion for that of such an administrative tribunal when the applicant fails to show that this specialized tribunal's decision was based on an erroneous finding of fact that it made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it (paragraph 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7). In this case, the evidence in the record generally supports the panel's findings of fact, and the transcript of the hearing before it does not have any significant irregularities. The applicant submits that the IRB erred in not considering the objective situation in the Congo in assessing her credibility. It is true that the new Congolese government is a repressive government (see the documentary evidence at pages 84 to 577 of the Tribunal Record). Nevertheless, the applicant did not establish the connection between her story and this documentary evidence regarding the situation in the Congo. In Sheikh v. Canada (M.E.I.), [1990] 3 F.C. 238, the Federal Court of Appeal stated that the lack of credibility in a refugee claimant's testimony can result in the absence of a link between the claimant's story and the documentary evidence.
[5] Finally, the applicant's allegation that Canada, by deporting her to the Congo, would be violating its international obligations and sections 7 and 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is premature at the refugee determination stage before the IRB (see Coomaraswamy v. Canada (M.C.I.), [2002] 4 F.C. 501 (C.A.)).
[6] For all of these reasons, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Yvon Pinard"
JUDGE
OTTAWA, Ontario
June 17, 2004
Certified true translation
Kelley A. Harvey, BA, BCL, LLB
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-2680-03
STYLE OF CAUSE: KIABIYA LONGANU v. MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: May 11, 2004
REASONS FOR ORDER: Pinard J.
DATE OF REASONS: June 17, 2004
APPEARANCES:
Stewart Istvanffy FOR THE APPLICANT
Edith Savard FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Stewart Istvanffy FOR THE APPLICANT
Montréal, Quebec
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario