Date: 20050916
Docket: IMM-10206-04
Citation: 2005 FC 1258
BETWEEN:
Mariana Cabrera Arvizu
Omar Israel Huerta Rodriguez
Applicants
-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 November 18, 2004, that the applicants are not "Convention refugees", or "persons in need of protection" as defined under sections 96 and 97, respectively of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27.
[2] Mariana Cabrera Arvizu (the female applicant) and her husband Omar Israel Huerta Rodriguez (the applicant) are citizens of Mexico.
[3] The female applicant had worked for the Women's Institute of the Federal District of Mexico since May 2000, as a social worker. It was a help centre for women victims of conjugal violence. The female applicant says that she was threatened by the husband of a battered woman whom she counselled and helped leave Mexico.
[4] This is a pure question of credibility and assessment of the facts. After hearing the parties' representatives and reviewing the evidence, I am not persuaded that the IRB's decision was based on an erroneous finding of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the evidence before it (see paragraph 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Courts Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7). The inferences drawn by the specialized tribunal that is the IRB appear reasonable to me (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.), 160 N.R. 315 (F.C.A.)). I am particularly satisfied that the many inconsistencies, omissions and implausibilities identified by the IRB are well supported by the evidence, including the testimony of the female applicant herself and the documentary evidence.
[5] For all of these reasons, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Yvon Pinard"
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
September 16, 2005
Certified true translation
Kelley A. Harvey, BCL, LLB
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-10206-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: MARIANA CABRERA ARVIZU, OMAR ISRAEL HUERTA RODRIGUEZ v. MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: August 17, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER: Pinard J.
DATE OF REASONS: September 16, 2005
APPEARANCES:
Peter Karavoulias FOR THE APPLICANTS
Marc Bernard
Sherry Rafai Far FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Peter Karavoulias FOR THE APPLICANTS
Montréal, Quebec
John H. Sims, Q.C. FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada