CCPR/C/125/D/2345/2014 that the author’s additional grounds for asylum, that he had been a dancing boy in Kabul, was fabricated for the occasion. 4.8 The State party observes in this regard that it was not until the consultation with his counsel for the purpose of drafting the counsel’s brief of 11 January 2012 that the author, following consultation with the staff at his asylum centre, provided the information that he had allegedly been kept captive as a dancing boy for a total of four months by two different persons. The statement about this was thus produced a whole year after the author’s arrival in Denmark and after the author had had three opportunities to give evidence about his grounds for asylum; first to the police upon his entry, then when interviewed for the asylum registration report and finally at the asylum interview conducted by the Danish Immigration Service. The author also had the opportunity to claim these asylum grounds on the asylum application form. Moreover, at the asylum interview conducted by the Danish Immigration Service on 11 May 2011, the author stated when directly asked that he had had no conflicts prior to his departure other than those that he had already mentioned. 4.9 The State party also observes that it is to be expected that the author, who is not illiterate and has had some years of schooling, would have been able to give a precise and specific reply to the questions asked, which were simple and uncomplicated, if he had himself experienced the incidents constituting his grounds for asylum. Moreover, the author’s explanations of why the information was only produced at such a late stage in the asylum proceedings appear inconsistent. According to the counsel’s brief of 11 January 2012, the author provided information about his additional grounds for asylum following consultation with an employee at the asylum centre, whereas the author stated at the Board hearing on 16 January 2012 that he had told a doctor about it. 4.10 As to the author’s reference to the UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines (see para. 3.2 above), the State party submits that the fact that the author is a young man of Hazara ethnicity cannot in itself justify asylum. The State party further observes that, according to the report of the Danish Immigration Service, nothing indicates that the Taliban is forcibly recruiting young people since many volunteers join the Taliban. It is equally unlikely that the Taliban will attempt to forcibly recruit ethnic Hazaras, considering that these two groups do not trust each other, and that the Taliban will therefore not trust Hazaras as soldiers.13 The State party submits, therefore, that the author has failed to substantiate that the Taliban will attempt to forcibly recruit him upon his return to Afghanistan. Moreover, the author is a young unmarried male of working age with no health problems. The author stated when interviewed by the Danish Immigration Service on 11 May 2011 that he was not involved in politics. The author also stated that he had never experienced any problems with the Afghan authorities. In that connection, the State party observes that the author never referred to his ethnicity as justifying asylum during the asylum proceedings in Denmark. 4.11 The State party also observes that, since the author does not appear to have been conspicuous in any way, there is no basis for revising the Board’s assessment that the author will not be at a specific and individual risk, solely as a result of his age and ethnicity, of being persecuted or subjected to the death penalty, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under section 7 (1) or (2) of the Aliens Act by the Afghan authorities, the Taliban or others in Afghanistan. 4.12 In the light of the foregoing, the State party concludes that there is no basis for doubting, let alone setting aside, the assessment made by the Board in its decisions of 16 January 2012 and 6 February 2014 that the author has failed to substantiate that his return to Afghanistan would put him at risk of being subjected to persecution or abuse justifying asylum, and thus that returning the author would not constitute a violation of either article 6 or article 7 of the Covenant. 13 Afghanistan: Country of Origin Information for Use in the Asylum Determination Process, Report from Danish Immigration Service’s Fact-finding Mission to Kabul, Afghanistan, 25 February to 4 March 2012 (Copenhagen, 2012), pp. 26–29. According to the report, the Taliban mainly recruit ethnic Pashtuns. 7