CAT/C/64/D/693/2015
observations from the State party were needed to ascertain the admissibility of the
communication.
Factual background
2.1
The complainant, an Afghan national, is an ethnic Hazara from Gardez in Paktia
Province, Afghanistan. Starting in 1990, his father began working in the Islamic Republic
of Iran as a lorry driver for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian
military. In 1995, a conflict arose between the complainant’s father and S., his father’s half
cousin and a high-ranking Taliban officer in Gardez, because the complainant’s father
would not arrange the hiring of S.’s brother, J.A., by the Iranian military. In 1996, J.A.
entered the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he was arrested, charged with espionage and
later executed. S. accused the complainant’s father of having masterminded the arrest and
for years made threatening telephone calls to the complainant’s father. S. also contacted the
complainant and his family at their home in Afghanistan and threatened their lives. In 1996,
due to the continued threats, the complainant and the rest of his family moved to the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
2.2
In 2007, the complainant’s mother died. 3 In early 2008, having learned that the
security situation in Afghanistan had improved and that S. had been arrested by the
American forces, the complainant’s father returned to Afghanistan with his two sons. About
one month later, they were assaulted by armed men in their home and taken to the basement,
where they were subjected to torture. S. and his associates arrived later in the day,
demanding that the complainant’s father admit his involvement in the execution of S.’s
brother. S. subjected them to physical abuse, broke the right leg of the complainant and
burned his left forearm by pouring hot water on it. The complainant’s father was taken
away and has never been seen since. 4 The complainant and his brother managed to escape
with the help of an old man. The old man provided them with a car and a driver who drove
them to their aunt’s home in Kabul. The following day, the aunt’s husband helped them to
get passports and they took a plane to Herat and from there travelled to the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
2.3
The complainant stayed in the Islamic Republic of Iran for about two years before
travelling to Copenhagen (through Greece, Italy, France and Germany), where he applied
for asylum on 17 June 2011.
2.4
On 16 November 2011, the Danish Immigration Service rejected the complainant’s
asylum application. On 25 July 2012, the Refugee Appeals Board upheld that decision. The
Board made a general observation that, although the complainant had given consistent and
detailed statements, certain specific elements of his statements were not convincing and
seemed non-credible, unlikely and somewhat inconsistent, particularly his statements about
his conflict with S., the allegedly inflicted abuses and the circumstances of his escape.
Based on an overall assessment, the Board found that the complainant’s explanations were
constructed for the occasion of his asylum proceedings. The Board also noted that the
complainant had not been a member of any political or religious associations or
organizations, nor had he been otherwise politically active. It concluded that the
complainant would not be at risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan.
2.5
Subsequently, the complainant underwent a medical examination arranged with the
assistance of the Danish Refugee Council. Afraid that he would be deported imminently,
the complainant did not wait for the results of the medical examination and left for Greece,
where he stayed and worked for about nine months. In Greece, he heard that S. had left
Afghanistan and gone to India, and he notified the Greek authorities of his intention to
return voluntarily to Afghanistan. He also submits that he needed to return to Afghanistan
in order to marry his girlfriend. In August 2014, accompanied by the Greek police, the
complainant and several other Afghan nationals flew to Kabul. Upon arrival, the
complainant went to his home town and was issued with a certificate of nationality there. 5
3
4
5
2
There is no information on the circumstances of her death.
The complainant presumes that his father was killed.
According to that document, the complainant was born on 25 February 1991.