CCPR/C/121/D/2419/2014
2.7
In 2012 and 2013, the author was hospitalized several times after attempting suicide.
In 2013, he started attending services at the Kronborg church centre and was baptized on 16
June 2013.3 Subsequently, the author left Denmark and sought asylum in the Netherlands,
where he submits he also participated in church activities. On 8 April 2014, the Dutch
authorities transferred the author back to Denmark in accordance with the Dublin
Regulations.
2.8
On 1 May 2014, the author, represented by the Danish Refugee Council, requested
that his asylum case be reopened. He argued, inter alia, that new information had come to
light concerning his situation in Afghanistan. The request included three documents that
had reportedly been received by the author’s neighbours living in Afghanistan, who sent
them to the author on behalf of his mother. His request also referred to his conversion from
Islam to Christianity. It included that the author had started taking an interest in Christianity
when he had come to Denmark, that he had been a regular churchgoer, that he had also
attended services at the Iranian church in the Netherlands, that video clips of those services
held in the Dari language had been made available on YouTube, that he had told his family
and friends in Afghanistan about changing his faith and that he could not be expected to
conceal his conversion in order to avoid persecution in Afghanistan. The author enclosed a
certificate of baptism dated 16 June 2013 and three letters prepared by M.C., a pastor of the
Kronborg church centre, indicating that the author had attended church services and other
activities from 3 March to 7 July 2013 and that the church considered him to be a sincere
believer.
2.9
On 15 May 2014, the priest at the Ellebaek asylum centre, P.B., informed the
author’s counsel that the author had been harassed by Muslim detainees owing to his
Christian faith.4 Counsel brought that information to the attention of the Refugee Appeals
Board.
2.10 On 2 June 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board decided not to reopen the case on the
grounds that there was no significant new information. The Board referred to its decision of
3 December 2012 and noted that the three documents reportedly received by the author
from Afghanistan appeared to have been fabricated. The Board contested that, although two
of the documents were dated from more than three years before the 3 December 2012
hearing, the author had neither submitted them at that time nor explained why they had not
been submitted at an earlier date. Moreover, according to the background material available,
forged documents were widely used and easy to obtain in Afghanistan.
2.11 The Refugee Appeals Board did not find the author’s conversion genuine since,
during the initial asylum procedure, he had confirmed that he was Muslim and had not
shown any interest in Christianity. Moreover, when interviewed on 20 March 2012, the
author had stated that he was an ethnic Qizilbash of Shia Muslim faith and that that group
was unable to practise its religion freely. When interviewed by the Danish Immigration
Service, he had stated that he was prepared to change his religion to avoid returning to
Afghanistan. The Board also took note of one of the letters prepared by M.C. and
highlighted that the information about the author’s conversion was obtained only a few
days before his scheduled deportation to Afghanistan and that he had not provided any
proof to support his statements that the Iranian church services in the Netherlands at which
he had participated had been recorded and uploaded to the Internet.
2.12 The author submits that he has exhausted all available and effective domestic
remedies.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that his deportation to Afghanistan by the State party would
constitute a violation of his rights under articles 6, 7, 13 and 26 of the Covenant. In
Afghanistan, he claims his life would be at risk or that he would risk being subjected to
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, owing to his situation as a young man of
3
4
The author provides a copy of a certificate of baptism dated 16 June 2013.
The author provides a copy of a translation of the email sent by P.B. to his counsel.
3