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