High Court rules torturer's case be reconsidered

A former Peruvian police officer who has admitted torturing political rebels in his home country can have his case to remain in New Zealand heard again following a High Court ruling in his favour.

Gabriel Sequeiros Garate, who goes by his family name Sequeiros, has been living in New Zealand since 1994.

He failed to gain refugee status because although his life would be in danger back in Peru, he has admitted to torturing political prisoners.

Mr Sequeiros has now successfully appealed to the High Court against a decision by the Removal Review Authority which had twice refused to grant him an exemption to deportation.

Justice Rodney Hansen has said in his decision after a hearing last November that the review authority made a mistake by not evaluating the conduct of Mr Sequeiros, 40, in context.

In 1997 Mr Sequeiros told the Refugee Status Appeals Authority he had used "third grade torture" techniques on terrorists in police custody whom he regarded as sadistic criminals with no inhibitions.

Mr Sequeiros said he had used such methods in 1991 while working as a police officer about three times and only when necessary.

Examples he gave included fastening prisoners to a piece of wood and dipping their heads in water, or tying their hands behind their backs and lifting them off the ground by their arms.

The appeals authority denied him refugee status because Mr Sequeiros had committed crimes against humanity and torture, and a removal order was made.

Justice Hansen said the review authority which later considered whether Mr Sequeiros could be exempted from deportation failed to adequately weigh up what was in the public interest.

He said the authority confined its evaluation to the specific acts of Mr Sequeiros and ignored the context in which they occurred.

Among relevant circumstances were his youth at the time, his position as a subordinate officer in a force where mistreatment of prisoners was condoned, and the danger to police and civilians posed by the guerilla activities.

"Whatever he had done in extreme circumstances did not provide a reliable guide to how he would behave in a peaceful democracy," Justice Hansen said.

In failing to weigh up the circumstances before finding it was contrary to the public interest for Mr Sequeiros to remain in New Zealand, the authority had erred and its decision must again be set aside, he said.

He referred the matter back to the authority with a direction it reconsider the appeal in accordance with his judgment.

Mr Sequeiros said he had twice been shot at by the Shining Path guerrillas.

He was left blind in one eye after being hit by shrapnel in 1992 and in a later incident was shot in the leg.

Mr Sequeiros tried to leave Peru after the first attack but the Government would not give him a passport because so many police were leaving the country.

His heavily pregnant wife Luis-Maria Sequeiros and their 2-year-old daughter left without him.

After he was shot in the leg Mr Sequeiros was finally discharged from the police and with his family, who had meanwhile rejoined him, he travelled to New Zealand in 1994.

A son was born in New Zealand within days of their arrival.

Mrs Sequeiros lodged her own application for refugee status, including her daughter and her half-brother, who arrived in 1995.

They failed and were issued with removal orders, but after legal challenges that decision was eventually cancelled on humanitarian grounds.

Mrs Sequeiros told the Dominion Post her husband's life would be in danger if he returned to Peru where he would have no job and no immediate family.

The family live in Auckland where the Dominion Post reported Mr Sequeiros worked for one of his brothers.

National Party immigration spokesman Tony Ryall said New Zealand needed a more disciplined approach to immigration.

"The law should be clear. People with a record of violence are not welcome here. New Zealand should not be a safe haven for those with terrorist connections or those with a history of brutality."

Immigration Minister Paul Swain said he could not comment because the case was still to go back before the Removal Review Authority.

Fighting to stay

* Gabriel Sequeiros Garate helped torture political prisoners in Peru but in 1994 claimed refugee status in NZ.

* Despite his life being in danger in Peru he has been denied refugee status because of his actions.

* The High Court has now ruled he can appeal against his deportation.