CCPR/C/123/D/2423/2014
1.2
On 11 June 2014, pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the
Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures requested the State party
to refrain from deporting the author to the Islamic Republic of Iran while his case was
under consideration by the Committee. On 24 January 2017 and 13 September 2017, the
Special Rapporteur decided to deny the State party’s requests to lift interim measures.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
From 2004 to 2007, the author worked as a guard in the Basij militia. His task was
to collect information about persons passing through specific controlled areas. He also had
administrative duties at the base, including the processing of mail. During 2007 and 2008,
he undertook military service for 15 months. In 2008, he resumed his work with the Basij,
being involved this time in administrative tasks at the Basij base. After the presidential
elections of 2009, he was requested to collect information about individuals who had
participated in a demonstration. He was also ordered to fabricate false information about
people being detained at the base. As he did not feel comfortable with collecting such
information and with fabricating false information, he tried to gradually reduce his work for
the Basij and subsequently carried out only a few administrative tasks for the movement. In
early 2012, he was contacted by his superior, who requested him to come to the base to
perform administrative tasks. However, he sought to avoid those tasks by explaining that he
was busy with his regular employment. In July 2012, a Basij member came to his house
while he was at work and asked his wife to inform him that he was needed at the Basij base.
The author decided to leave the Islamic Republic of Iran to avoid having to join the Basij
militia again.
2.2
On 8 July 2012, the author fled the Islamic Republic of Iran illegally — without a
passport and by paying an agent to organize his departure and pay the border guards — and
went to Turkey. On 1 September 2012, he fled from Istanbul to Denmark. He entered
Denmark on 2 September 2012 with a forged passport and a forged French visa. He applied
for asylum on 3 September 2012, referring to his fear of being arrested and tortured if
returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran because the Basij suspected him of disclosing
confidential information to Western countries and to political opponents of the Iranian
regime. He also declared that he feared disproportionate punishment because he had left the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
2.3
On 4 January 2013, the Danish Immigration Service dismissed the author’s
application for a residence permit.
2.4
In February 2013, the author met a woman named Z.A. who told him about the
Christian message. Through Z.A., he was introduced to meetings on Skype where he met a
pastor and became familiar with Christianity. On 8 April 2013, the author was baptized. He
then cited his conversion to Christianity as a ground for asylum, in his appeal against the
decision of the Danish Immigration Service. On 30 May 2013, the Danish Refugee Appeals
Board upheld his appeal and sent the case back to the Immigration Service.
2.5
On 23 December 2013, the Danish Immigration Service again dismissed the author’s
application for a residence permit. That decision was appealed to the Danish Refugee
Appeals Board.
2.6
On 27 March 2014, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board rejected the author’s request
for asylum, as it found that he had failed to substantiate that he would be at risk of
persecution or abuse as a result of his refusal to work for the Basij any longer. In regard to
his conversion to Christianity, the majority of the Board members found that the author had
failed to establish that his conversion was genuine, despite the certificate of baptism of 8
April 2013, his active participation in parish work, declarations produced by the pastor and
the Pentecostal Church, and his explanation that he had met a person named Z.A. with
whom he had had a conversation about Christianity in December 2012. The author also
declared that he had decided to convert to Christianity following that conversation.
However, the majority of the Board members dismissed his statements and argued that his
interest in Christianity began after a negative decision by the Danish Immigration Service
regarding his asylum request. The majority of the Board members concluded that his
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