CCPR/C/113/D/2515/2014
Decision on admissibility*
1.1
The author of the communication is Mr. X, an Afghan national born on 1 January
1983. He claims that his deportation to Afghanistan by the State party would constitute a
violation of his rights under articles 7, 18 and 26 of the Covenant. The author is represented
by counsel.
1.2
On 22 December 2015, the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim
measures, acting on behalf of the Committee, decided not to issue a request for interim
measures under rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure. He also determined that
observations from the State party were not needed to ascertain the admissibility of the
present communication.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
The author is ethnic Pashto and originally professed Sunni Muslim faith. He used to
live in the town of Shindan, province of Herat, Afghanistan, with his parents, brother and
sister. He worked as a photographer. The author claims that he was asked by a powerful
rich man, Mr. H.A.K., to record his daughter’s wedding; that shortly after the wedding, the
video was stolen by unknown people; and that, when Mr. H.A.K became aware of it, he and
other men abducted the author and his sister and kept them in a cellar. He further alleges
that Mr. H.A.K. broke his legs, jaw and nose. Two weeks later, he moved to Tehran, where
he resided illegally for two years, and then to Greece, where he worked and resided legally
for about six years. After receiving threats by telephone from an unknown person, who told
him that Mr. H.K.A. would kill his brother, he felt insecure and decided to leave Greece.
2.2
On 17 January 2012, the author arrived in Denmark where, on 24 January, he
requested asylum before the Danish Immigration Service. He referred to the experiences
that he underwent in Afghanistan and Greece and claimed that, if returned to his country of
origin, he would be persecuted by Mr. H.A.K., who was still a powerful local man. He also
pointed out that he was illiterate and that he professed Sunni Muslim faith. The author
claims that, a few weeks later, he entered in contact with a Christian Iranian man, who
introduced him to this new religion.
2.3
On 8 June 2012, the Danish Immigration Service rejected the author’s request for
asylum. The author’s appeal was dismissed by the Danish Refugee Board on 3 October
2012.
2.4
The author claims that, in or after the autumn of 2012, he visited for the first time a
Christian church that was located near the asylum centre in Ranum, where he met a
Presbyterian pastor, Mr. P.V., who later became his teacher of Christianity. Since he felt
harassed by other asylum seekers at the centre, who disliked his attendance at the church,
he was transferred at pastor P.V.’s request to another asylum centre in Avnstrup. He started
to participate in Farsi-speaking Christian groups, at Saint Lukeʼs Church, where he was
baptized on 2 June 2013, and then at the Church of the Apostles.
2.5
On 26 July 2013, the author requested that the Danish Refugee Board reopen his
case on grounds of his conversion to Christianity. On 13 August 2013, the Board rejected
* The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the present
communication: Yadh Ben Achour, Lazhari Bouzid, Sarah Cleveland, Olivier De Frouville, Ahmed
Amin Fathalla, Yuji Iwasawa, Ivana Jelić, Duncan Muhumuza Laki, Photini Pazartzis, Mauro Politi,
Sir Nigel Rodley, Victor Manuel Rodríguez-Rescia, Fabián Omar Salvioli, Dheerujlall
B. Seetulsingh, Anja Seibert-Fohr, Yuval Shany, Konstantine Vardzelashvili and Margo Waterval.
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