Neutral Citation: [2008] IEHC 213
THE HIGH COURT
2006 992 JR
BETWEEN
F. O.
APPLICANT
AND
THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE, EQUALITY AND LAW REFORM and
DAVID ANDREWS, SITTING AS THE REFUGEE APPEALS TRIBUNAL
RESPONDENTS
EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT OF MR. JUSTICE BIRMINGHAM delivered on the 4th day of July 2008.
Factual Background
Procedural Background
(i) The ORAC Questionnaire
(ii) The ORAC Interview
"My husband is a politician and belongs to a political party, and there is this business that they are into to do with oil business. He was in charge of the money and he was not cooperating with regard to disbursement of money and how it was to be shared and they were not happy with him and there was a fight and he was subsequently killed. They started chasing me and they wanted to kill myself and the children because they felt that I knew where he keeps the money."
(iii) The ORAC Decision/Recommendation
(iv) The Notice of Appeal
(v) The RAT Decision
"Altogether, the credibility of the Applicant left much to be desired and that her demeanour was not of a person who was credible."
The Issues in the Case
a. Made a fundamental error of fact;
b. Failed to have regard to county of origin information that had been submitted / found that state protection would have been available;
c. Took an impermissible approach to the assessment of credibility.
(a) Fundamental Error of Fact
"[The applicant] claimed in the first instance that the police did nothing about her husband's murder, but it now subsequently emerged, according to the evidence, that the youths were arrested and let out on bail, so there must be an ongoing investigation. The Applicant left Nigeria before that investigation had been completed."
(b) Treatment of country of origin information
(1) Human Rights Watch Overview of human rights issues in Nigeria;
(2) Amnesty International report on Nigeria (January – December 2004).
"The oil-rich Niger Delta in the south of country remains the scene of recurring violence between members of different ethnic groups competing for political and ethnic power, and between militia and security forces sent to restore order in the area. Violence between ethnic militias often occurs within the context of clashes over control of the theft of crude oil. This violence is aggravated by the widespread availability of small arms, a problem which exists throughout Nigeria but is particularly acute in the Delta. Despite a robust military and police presence in the region, local communities remain vulnerable to attack by militias, criminal gangs, and the security forces themselves. Oil companies rarely speak out publicly about such abuses; indeed, some of their own practices have contributed to ongoing conflict in the region."
"There was continuing violence in the Niger Delta and reports of the excessive use of force by security forces or law enforcement officials. Many hundreds of people were reportedly killed in the Delta, Bayelsa and River States in 2004. The economic, social and cultural rights of the people in the Niger Delta – the main oil-producing region in the country – continued in general to be unfilled, leading to increasing frustration and tension both within and between communities. The situation was exacerbated by the easy availability of guns in the region. Oil company employees and assets, such as pipe lines, were frequently targeted for attack and sabotage."
"The country of origin information has been studied in depth in the context of the Applicant's credibility."
"A person claiming that a decision making authority has, contrary to its express statement, ignored representations which it has received must produce some evidence, direct or inferential, of that proposition before he can be said to have an arguable case."
(c) The Assessment of Credibility
Conclusion
Approved: Birmingham J.