CCPR/C/126/D/2685/2015
1.1
The authors of the communication are R.M., born on 12 March 1989, and his wife,
F.M., born on 23 April 1994. They are Afghan nationals and present the communication on
their own behalf and on behalf of their two children: X, born on 23 February 2011, and Y,
born on 23 May 2014. They claim that by forcibly deporting them to Afghanistan, Denmark
would violate their rights under articles 6, 7, 17 and 23 of the Covenant. The authors are
represented by counsel.
1.2
On 25 November 2015, 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 authors and their children to Afghanistan while their case was
under consideration by the Committee. On 27 January 2017 and then on 9 April 2018, the
Special Rapporteur decided to deny the State party’s requests to lift interim measures.
The facts as presented by the authors
2.1
The authors fled Afghanistan after having had sexual relations outside marriage, at
F.M.’s residence when her family was absent;1 F.M. subsequently fell pregnant. When she
was 3-months pregnant, F.M. was formally engaged to one of her uncle’s friends, who was
older and with whom she had had no previous contact. After the authors’ departure,2 F.M.’s
family threatened R.M.’s family. F.M.’s cousin killed R.M.’s brother3 because he had helped
the authors to escape. The authors stayed for about six months in Turkey, where their first
son was born. They subsequently went to Greece, where they stayed for 14 months.
2.2
F.M. entered Denmark without valid travel documents on 23 April 2012, and R.M. on
11 December 2012.4 Each applied for asylum on the day of arrival. F.M. declared that she
feared being killed by her uncle or her fiancé because she had had sexual relations with R.M.
and become pregnant. R.M. declared that he feared being subjected to blood revenge by his
wife’s uncle because he had had sexual relations with a young woman without being married
to her and then helped her to escape from her family. He also feared for his life because his
brother had been killed by F.M.’s family. The Danish Immigration Service nonetheless
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4
2
F.M. declared before the Danish authorities that she had grown up with her father’s brother, so she
was living in her uncle’s house. She met R.M. at the home of his aunt, who was living in the
neighbouring house.
The authors declared before the Danish authorities that, after leaving their homes, they went into
hiding in another part of Kabul for 20 days, during which time they were married by a mullah, in the
presence of R.M.’s parents, at the home of the agent who had organized their departure from
Afghanistan. They subsequently left for Turkey.
According to the report of the Danish Immigration Service on the asylum interview with R.M. on 18
February 2013, R.M. produced a document as evidence of his brother’s death. According to the
interpreter’s translation of the copy of that document, on 12 July 2011, the son of M.Q. was killed and
found in the Qasem Kham alley; three people had been arrested in that connection and convicted. The
document was a record of the death of the relevant person. The interpreter stated that the document
was dated 23 October 2012, was provided with three signatures as well as the signature of the issuer
of the document, and was from the first police district. R.M. declared that the document was from the
police in Kabul and that it was evidence of his brother’s death. The interpreter was not, however, able
to determine whether that was the case, having found the writing “illegible”.
The authors declared before the Danish authorities that R.M. stayed in Greece after F.M.’s departure.