CCPR/C/126/D/2603/2015
interim measures in order for him not to be removed to Afghanistan pending the
examination of his communication. The author is represented by counsel.2
1.2
On 30 April 2015, pursuant to rule 92 of its rules of procedure (now rule 94), the
Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, requested the State party to refrain from deporting the author to Afghanistan
while his case was under consideration by the Committee. On 7 May 2015, the State party
suspended execution of the deportation order against the author.
1.3
On 1 December 2015, in light of the information provided by the State party that the
Danish Refugee Appeals Board had decided to reopen the case, the Committee suspended
its consideration of the communication until further notice and reminded the State party not
to deport the author while the case was suspended. On 21 April 2016, the State party
advised the Committee that on 18 April 2016 the Refugee Appeals Board had decided to
uphold the decision to reject the author’s request for asylum, and requested that the
suspension of the communication be lifted. On 15 July 2016, the Committee decided to lift
its suspension of the case and to grant an extension for the State party to present its
observations on the admissibility and the merits of the communication.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author is of Pashtun ethnicity and comes from Kunar Province in Afghanistan.
He asserts that he runs the risk of being persecuted if he were to be deported to Afghanistan
because, after having worked five years for the international forces, he has come into
conflict with the Taliban. In addition, the Afghan authorities wrongfully suspect him of
being affiliated with the Taliban.
2.2
The author states that he was employed as a soldier with Afghanistan’s National
Directorate of Security from 2007 to 2012, training and working with Afghan forces and
forces of the United States of America. The author’s tasks included arresting members of
the Taliban. Due to his work, the author was threatened by the Taliban on several occasions.
The author received two threatening letters from the Taliban at his home,3 and soon after
the first threatening letter, shots were fired at his car in an attempt to kill him. In December
2012, the author was kidnapped and detained by the Taliban for three or four months before
he managed to escape. The author was in a taxi together with four other persons, and at a
checkpoint they were forced to move towards the mountains. During his detention, the
author did not reveal his real identity. He had managed to hide his national identity card in
the taxi when they were stopped, and he was not recognized by the Taliban members as
they belonged to a Taliban faction from a different district than the author’s home district.
During an airstrike, the author managed to escape from the Taliban. Subsequently, he
stayed with his uncle for three or four days before leaving Afghanistan for Pakistan. After
his departure, the author was told that his family had received another threatening letter
from the Taliban, addressed to him. The author’s father informed the author that his former
colleagues in the army had searched his home and that he was suspected of collaboration
with the Taliban because of his long absence.
2.3
The author entered Denmark on 8 December 2013 without any valid travel
documents and applied for asylum on the same day. His sister, her husband and their
children have residency in Denmark. The rest of the author’s close family, including his
wife and his six children, reside in Afghanistan.
2.4
On 26 March 2014, the Danish Immigration Service refused the author’s asylum
request. On 10 July 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board remitted the case to the Danish
Immigration Service for reconsideration at the request of the Danish Immigration Service.
On 27 November 2014, the Danish Immigration Service again refused asylum to the author.
On 9 March 2015, the Refugee Appeals Board upheld the refusal of the author’s application
for asylum, by a majority. Although the Refugee Appeals Board considered it as a fact that
2
3
2
Troels Peter Koch was replaced by Dorte Smed of the Danish Refugee Council.
The author submits that because of the letters, he considered quitting the army. Eventually, he decided
that the threats were a part of his job, and chose to ignore them and continue his work with the army.
Therefore, he did not save the letters.