He v. Canada ( Minister of Employment and Immigration )
IMM-3024-93
Simpson J.
1/6/94
4 pp.
Application for judicial review of Convention Refugee Determination Division's (CRDD) decision applicant not Convention refugee -- Applicant, school teacher, citizen of People's Republic of China, claiming to have well-founded fear of persecution on basis of political opinion; participated in pro-democracy movement -- Arrested and detained until confessed participation, then deprived forever of right to practice profession and live where she choose -- Forced to return to country village and become farmer -- Board erred in law when said "if claimant had signed confession earlier, she would have spent less than one month in detention"; imprisonment cannot be discounted on basis could have been avoided by early confession -- Board's finding applicant's imprisonment not persecution as caught up in country-wide combing out operation to test population's political attitudes was perverse -- Evidence clear and credible arrest at school and subsequent imprisonment direct result of political beliefs and participation in demonstrations; fact country-wide ideological purge conducted at same time irrelevant -- To permanently deprive teacher of profession and to forever convert educated young woman into farm hand and garment worker, added to deprivation of mobility and freedom to choose where she would live constituted persecution -- Application allowed.