REFUGEE TRIBUNAL HIT FOR RELYING ON WIKIPEDIA
By Elizabeth Gosch and Alana Buckley-Carr
Sunday Times, Australia
,21598,221 02720-949,00.html
July 19 2007
THE Refugee Review Tribunal has been slammed by the Federal Magistrates
Court for relying on the website Wikipedia to reject a protection visa.
The Federal Magistrates Court set aside the tribunal’s decision to
refuse the visa on the ground it had used unreliable information.
In May last year, the tribunal refused an Iranian national’s
application for a protection visa because it did not accept his claim
he had converted to Christianity – a move that put his life in danger
in predominantly Muslim Iran.
The tribunal based its decision on information and material sourced
from a Wikipedia website,
Applying for the protection visa, the Iranian said he had begun
developing anti-Islamic thoughts after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and
had been introduced to the Christian faith by friends in about 2004.
He said he used to sell Christian books to raise extra cash and attend
the Armenian Church in Rusht.
Asked what would happen if he returned to Iran, the man said: "I will
be arrested and killed, firstly for selling these books and secondly
for converting to Christianity."
The tribunal rejected the man’s claim on the basis he did not know
"notable ritual aspects" of the Armenian Church.
"The applicant claimed to have been to an Armenian Church," the
tribunal said.
"At the Armenian Apostolic Church the applicant would have witnessed
notable ritual aspects of the service that go beyond singing and
prayer and ought to have been able to describe these.
"He was not able to do so."
The tribunal relied upon information sourced from the Wikipedia
website to assess the applicant’s knowledge of religious ceremonies.
In a decision handed down last month, federal magistrate Murray
McInnis said the tribunal misinterpreted the applicant’s claim to
have attended an Armenian Church to be a claim to have attended the
Armenian Apostolic Church.
"It was entirely unclear on the material whether the applicant had
claimed to have attended an Apostolic or an Evangelical Armenian
Church," Mr McInnis said.
"The tribunal acted without or in excess of jurisdiction by taking
into account an irrelevant consideration.
"The tribunal took into account an irrelevant consideration, namely
information/material contained in the 111.armeniapedia.org website.
"The Tribunal’s reliance on the information/material contained
in was illogical and/or irrational and/or
unreasonable."
The protection visa application will return to the tribunal.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
