CCPR/C/122/D/2292/2013 1.1 The author of the communication is W.K., a national of Egypt born on 5 January 1975. He claims that his removal to Egypt by Canada would violate his rights under articles 6 (1), 7, 9 (1), 17, 18 and 27 of the Covenant because he fears that he will be killed or tortured on grounds of his sexual orientation and his conversion from Islam to Christianity. He is represented by counsel. 1.2 On 24 October 2013, in accordance with rule 92 of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, requested the State party not to expel the author to Egypt while the communication was being considered. On 23 March 2017, the State party requested that the interim measures with regard to the author be lifted on the grounds that he had failed to substantiate his claims, that he had not exhausted domestic remedies and that his communication contained allegations that were incompatible ratione materiae with the provisions of the Covenant. The Committee rejected the request on 17 July 2017. The State party has postponed the removal of the author, who currently resides in Canada. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author is an Egyptian national and a lawyer by training. He identifies as homosexual. On the night of 24 to 25 December 2012, he was assaulted by members of the Muslim Brotherhood at his home in Egypt, which he shared with his partner Hany. His partner was reportedly murdered and the author was seriously injured after being hit on the head and scalded on various parts of his body. 1 After the assault, the author took shelter at the house of a Russian friend, Inna, whom he had met in May 2012. 2.2 In February 2013, with Inna’s help, the author fled Egypt for the Russian Federation, where he applied for asylum in March 2013, though he omitted to mention his sexual orientation out of fear of a negative reaction on the part of the Russian authorities. Having developed his Christian faith in Egypt, the author converted to Christianity on 9 June 2013 and practised that religion consistently and fervently during his stay in the Russian Federation. He married Inna, but maintains that it was merely a marriage of convenience entered into with the sole purpose of regularizing his status in the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, his asylum application was rejected by the Russian authorities, which did not believe his claims and ordered him to leave the country by 25 August 2013. Fearful of returning to Egypt, where he claimed to have received death threats from his family on account of his conversion, the author obtained a fake passport in order to travel to Canada. 2.3 On 11 September 2013, the author arrived in Canada on a fake Israeli passport. He requested entry into Canada for two weeks in order to see a friend, Inna, 2 and to visit art galleries. He had a return ticket to Tel Aviv. The border official asked if he wished to seek asylum in Canada and whether he feared for his life anywhere in the world, including in Israel. The author replied that he did not, fearing that he would be expelled if his passport was discovered to be fake. After failing to reach the author’s friend via telephone, the official noticed irregularities in the passport and questioned him in this regard. The author admitted to having purchased the passport and explained that he did not want to leave Canada because he had serious problems in Egypt related to his homosexuality, that he had 1 2 2 Photographs allegedly taken at the time of the events are annexed to the file. The author also provided a letter, dated 20 October 2013, from a nurse who went to the Laval immigration holding centre at the request of the author’s lawyer in order to examine him and record the characteristics of any marks, scars and other injuries found on his body and head. The nurse spoke with the author for 20 minutes in the visitation room. On her arrival, the authorities informed the nurse that she could meet with the author but could not examine him, i.e. that she could not touch him and that the author could not remove his top or roll up his sleeves, and that they would not be able to meet in a private room. Under those circumstances, the nurse admitted that her observations were cursory. The author pointed to a linear section, approximately 8 cm long, running from the occipital area to the parietal lobe. The nurse noted “a difference in the appearance of the scalp in this area (typical of an area that has been injured, scar tissue), but [her] observations were limited because [she] was unable to touch the area or use sufficient light”. The nurse concluded by saying that “a more in-depth examination would have made it possible to more precisely assess the length, exact location and characteristics of the scar, for example the presence of suture marks”. His wife whom he married in the Russian Federation. GE.18-09612

Select target paragraph3