CAT/C/71/D/874/2018
proselytizing by the complainant has not been considered separately, because it was a
supplement of the previously considered claim of conversion.
8.8
While recognizing the concerns that may legitimately be expressed with respect to the
current human rights situation in Afghanistan with regard to Christian converts, the
Committee recalls that the occurrence of human rights violations in the country of origin is
not sufficient in itself to conclude that a complainant runs a foreseeable, present, personal
and real risk of torture. Although the Committee is not in a position to assess the genuineness
of the complainant’s conversion, it emphasises that, in its assessment of the complainant’s
asylum application, the State party’s authorities should adequately assess the possible risk of
ill-treatment of a Christian convert as a perceived apostate upon return to Afghanistan.
8.9
In the light of all the information submitted by the parties, the Committee observes
that the parties do not contest the fact that the complainant was given a number of
opportunities in the asylum proceedings to explain and clarify, both orally and in writing, the
relevant facts and circumstances in support of his claims. The Committee notes that each oral
hearing took place over the course of several hours in the presence of a public counsel and
an interpreter and that the complainant had the possibility to submit written comments on the
findings of the migration authorities through his public counsel. In that regard, the Committee
notes that the complainant, who allegedly had participated in the activities of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses community since 2015 and had started studying Bible, including through private
teaching and attending church twice per week in the third quarter of 2016, was found not to
be a genuine convert by the Migration Court in its decision delivered in December 2017. The
State party therefore did not consider as substantiated the complainant’s claim that he would
continue to act as a practicing Christian if returned to Afghanistan. The Committee notes that,
only three months later, in March 2018, the complainant became a preacher and presented
that fact as a new claim against his expulsion.
8.10 The Committee observes that the complainant claims to have been proselytizing for
18 months, at the time of submission of his comments to the observations of the State party.
He claimed that he was preaching publicly and going from door to door, including among
the Muslim community, which exposed him to the risk of persecution and the risk that
information about his Christian activities could spread to his home country. The Committee
notes that, despite that general allegation, the complainant has not presented information on
any specific threat that he might have been exposed to during that period. He limited himself
to the statement that his conversion was genuine, that he was actively proselytizing and that
the domestic authorities had erroneously considered the claim as a supplement to the already
assessed claim of conversion and did not evaluate it on its own. In the circumstances of the
present case, the Committee considers that, once the domestic authorities, after a due
assessment of his claims, found the complainant’s conversion not to be genuine, a further
claim ensuing from such conversion, should not be reasonably expected to lead to a new
evaluation and new findings, especially given the brief period that had passed between the
initial assessment and the request for a new assessment.
8.11 In the light of the foregoing, the Committee considers that the complainant has not
adduced sufficient grounds for it to conclude that he runs a real, foreseeable, personal and
present risk of being subjected to torture upon return to Afghanistan. Furthermore, the
complainant has not demonstrated that the State party’s authorities failed to conduct a proper
investigation into his allegations within the domestic proceedings. The Committee therefore
considers that the evidence on file does not enable it to conclude that the return of the
complainant to Afghanistan would constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention.
9.
The Committee against Torture, acting under article 22 (7) of the Convention,
concludes that the complainant’s removal to Afghanistan by the State party would not
constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention.
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