CCPR/C/119/D/2530/2015 is expected to commit outside the territory and jurisdiction of Denmark. The European Court of Human Rights has stressed the exceptional character of the extraterritorial protection of the rights contained in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It also follows from the Court’s jurisprudence that because a violation of article 18 by another State would not cause the type of irreparable harm contemplated by articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant, article 18 should not have extraterritorial application.6 4.7 The State party also considers that the communication is without merit, for the reasons stated above and because general conditions for Coptic Christians in Egypt do not in and of themselves justify a finding that the authors are entitled to asylum. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, as stated in its 2015 annual report,7 President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt had encouraged religious tolerance in public statements since he had assumed office in June 2014. This represents a significant shift in tone from that of his predecessors. In addition, in its report on international religious freedom in 2013, 8 the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor stated that representation of Coptic Christians in the public sector had improved since former President Mohamed Morsi had been removed from office. The State party refers to other reports suggesting that conditions for Coptic Christians in Egypt may be difficult, but have improved under the current regime.9 Authors’ comments on the State party’s observations 5.1 In a submission dated 30 November 2015, the authors refer to their claim under article 9 and assert that they cannot live freely in Egypt because of their Christian faith and their conflict with their neighbours. Coptic Christians in Egypt continue to be persecuted by militant groups. Some 21 Coptic Christians were recently executed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in neighbouring Libya.10 5.2 According to the authors’ counsel, G recently informed her priest in Denmark that her father, mother, sister and brother in Egypt were forced to flee to a nearby church five months earlier because they had been in danger of being attacked by Salafists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Government of Egypt is unwilling and unable to protect them. The increasing persecution of the authors’ family members indicates a heightened risk for the authors should they return to Egypt. 5.3 The Board did not deny that F was subjected to physical and psychological abuse. The authors reiterate their claims concerning the context in which F’s assertions should be interpreted, given that he has been tortured. Through circular reasoning, the Board found that F was not credible, while simultaneously refusing to allow adjournment of the hearing to permit him to be medically examined. This demonstrates that the decision-making process was irregular in the authors’ case. 5.4 Concerning article 18 (1), the Committee has previously found claims under this provision to be admissible where the author adequately explains the reasons for which 6 7 8 9 10 The State party refers to Z and T v. the United Kingdom (application No. 27034/05), decision of 28 February 2006. www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Egypt%202015.pdf. Department of State, “International religious freedom report for 2013 — Egypt”. See Council of Europe, “Threats against humanity posed by the terrorist group known as ‘IS’: violence against Christians and other religious or ethnic communities”, Parliamentary Assembly document 13618 (30 September 2014); and Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2014 — Egypt (23 January 2014). See Rose Troup Buchanan, “Coptic Christians: who are they — and why have they been targeted by Isis in beheading video?”, Independent (London), 16 February 2015. The author states, “Amnesty International’s Egyptian research[er] Mohammed Elmessiry told The Independent: ‘The discrimination is not in all parts of the country but it exist[s] in some parts of the country’ … He added that Amnesty had recorded ‘four or five’ separate incidences involving persecution against Copts.”. 5