CCPR/C/125/D/2373/2014 expected within 15 days of the final decision, namely by 26 February 2014. 3 The author asked the Committee to request interim measures in order for him not to be removed to Afghanistan pending the examination of his communication. He is represented by counsel, Helge Nørrung.4 The Optional Protocol to the Covenant entered into force for Denmark on 23 March 1976. 1.2 On 3 April 2014, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, decided not to issue a request for interim measures under rule 92 of its rules of procedure. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author submits that he is of Hazara ethnicity and comes from Ghazni Province in Afghanistan. He left his home country in October 2011, after being in conflict with a powerful neighbour, an army general. 2.2 The author submits that his father was killed by the Taliban in 2007, and his mother was left with five minor children, including the author. In 2011, the aforementioned general attempted to seize the land that belonged to the author’s family, and during the ensuing physical altercation, the author hit the neighbour’s son on his leg with a spade. The author’s mother urged him to escape to avoid further punishment from the powerful neighbour. 2.3 Prior to that incident, the author had also experienced attempts to rape him during a short period of employment with his father’s former employer, a local commander. 2.4 The author travelled through several countries before reaching Denmark. On the way to Denmark, he visited Christian churches in Greece and Italy, firstly because the churches offered food, and later because he found peace in the church. The author began to be interested in Christianity. He rejected his Muslim faith, and his family in Afghanistan was informed about his “conversion”.5 He submits that he converted to Christianity not to obtain asylum, but because he found the Christian religion to be peaceful.6 He claims that he rejected Islam wholeheartedly and wishes to practise Christianity. In its final decision, the Refugee Appeals Board correctly stated that the author was a former Shia Muslim and now a “seeking Christian”. It also correctly stated that the author’s father had worked for a commander, Bask Habibullah, and had been killed by Taliban in that connection in 2007. Finally, the Board held that it “cannot deny that the applicant and his family has had a land dispute with the neighbour about the boundary between the lots, and that the author has hit the neighbour’s son with a spade across the leg”. Nevertheless, the Board rejected the asylum claim, finding that “it is not substantiated that he upon return to the homeland will be at risk of persecution which would justify his asylum, according to the Aliens Act (sect. 7, para. 1), or to be at real risk of abuse covered by the Aliens Act (sect. 7, para. 2).” 2.5 Since the final decisions of the Refugee Appeals Board cannot be appealed to the Danish courts, the author submits that he has exhausted all available and effective domestic remedies. The present communication has not been and is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. The complaint 3.1 The author claimed that he would be exposed to persecution, torture and the risk of death, in violation of articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant, if removed to Afghanistan. He claims 3 4 5 6 2 The author estimated that the police would deport him to Afghanistan within one month of the date of the communication. The document conferring power of attorney is annexed to the initial communication. Mr. Helge Nørrung was replaced by Mr. Daniel Nørrung, following the first counsel’s retirement. According to the decision of the Danish Refugee Board of 11 February 2014 (annex 1). The author asserts that, as he was a minor, he was living in asylum centres that did not facilitate contact with alternative religions. It was the author’s counsel who contacted Christian associates which led to the author’s contact with a local priest, near the asylum centre, who helped the author to learn more about Christianity. Before the Board meeting, the counsel submitted on 10 February 2014 a brief letter by the priest attesting to the author’s Christian beliefs. When transferred to an adult asylum centre, he kept his faith secret due to hostility from his fellow countrymen.