CCPR/C/119/D/2240/2013
communications and interim measures, decided not to accede to the request. The author was
deported to Afghanistan on the same day.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author lived in Kabul Province. He is ethnic Tajik and a Sunni Muslim. From
1985 to 1992 he was a member of the Khalq Party, Parcham wing, and was the
representative of the youth branch of the party at his school. He had higher education and
trained as an engineer. He then attended a military school in Kabul and held the rank of
lieutenant colonel. After his studies, he served in the Air Force as an engineer. When the
mujahidin came to power, 1 he stopped his political activities and lost his job. Later, he
worked in the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. Between 2005 and 2009,
he worked for the ministry responsible for roadbuilding, reconstructing roads in different
provinces.
2.2
On 19 August 2009, he was in Ghazni Province with two colleagues. They took a
taxi. At some point, the car suddenly turned off the road and onto a dirt track. The
colleague in the front seat tried to stop the car by grabbing the steering wheel, but the driver,
who belonged to the Taliban, cut his neck with a knife, resulting in a serious injury. The
author and the other colleague who had been in the back seat of the taxi were forced to get
out of the car. They tried to defend themselves, but another person with a large knife
appeared and the author was seriously injured.2 He fainted and was brought to a hospital.3
He stayed for three months in the public hospital and was then transferred to a private
hospital where he stayed for almost a year. The author claims that neither he nor his
colleagues had realized that the taxi driver was a member of the Taliban, as he was dressed
in the habitual manner of that region.
2.3
On 6 March 2011, about four months after he had been discharged from the hospital,
members of the Taliban knocked at the front door of the family home. The author had been
carrying out maintenance on the roof and saw three persons armed with Kalashnikovs. The
police were contacted and arrived in a matter of minutes; 4 one of the three persons was
killed, while the others fled. Ten to 15 days later, the author and his family moved to a
nearby house. On 21 June 2011, the author left Afghanistan and travelled to Turkey. He
claims that he had almost no contact with his relatives in Afghanistan. However, he was
informed that his car, in which his wife and another relative were travelling, had been fired
at.
2.4
The author arrived in Denmark on 9 September 2011 without valid travel documents
and requested asylum, initially appearing at the Copenhagen City police department. He
argued that, if returned to Afghanistan, he would again face persecution by the Taliban. He
claims that since he had participated in construction financed, sponsored or carried out by
foreign entities, the Taliban suspected that he worked for a foreign army. Moreover, he
would also be persecuted due to the fact that he can identify the taxi driver who assaulted
him and his colleagues. He has had to have surgery on his abdomen several times as a
consequence of the 2009 attack. He also claims that he had no affiliation with a militia and
that he had never been arrested or subjected to any house search by the authorities. He
further claims that his relatives had faced problems caused by the Taliban, without however
providing further details.
2.5
On 7 December 2011, the Danish Immigration Service refused to grant asylum to
the author, owing to inconsistencies in his statements over time that led to the conclusion
that he lacked credibility.
2.6
The author appealed this decision to the Refugee Appeals Board. He claimed that
there was no contradiction in his statements and reiterated his assertion that he would be
subjected to persecution by the Taliban if returned to Afghanistan. On 21 November 2012,
1
2
3
4
2
Around 1995.
The author provided a medical certificate from the Danish Red Cross regarding scars on his torso
consistent with gunshot and knife wounds. The report is not translated.
The author thinks this must have been by the colleague who escaped, who went for help.
They were able to arrive quickly owing to the proximity of a checkpoint.