CCPR/C/122/D/2292/2013 that his brother-in-law is an influential judge in Egypt, the evidence provided by the author (namely photographs from YouTube and Facebook and newspaper articles) does not establish that these individuals are indeed his sister and brother-in-law nor that they had reported him to the State authorities as being a homosexual. Moreover, the simple fact of having been reported by his own family — which the author has not established — does not prove that the author is a target of the Egyptian authorities such that there are substantial grounds for believing that he would suffer irreparable harm if returned to Egypt. Moreover, the fact that Egyptian identity cards contain information on the religion of the holder is not sufficient to infer that as a result the author would be targeted by the Egyptian authorities, let alone that he would be at risk of death, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment if he were arrested or detained by them. 6.16 With regard to the author’s conversion, the State party claims that doubt is cast on it by his inability to provide key details concerning his faith and religion. For example, at the oral hearing in 2015, the author was unable to cite the exact date of his baptism. Moreover, at the same hearing, the author was unable to indicate which Christian denomination he belonged to or to list the Christian sacraments, despite claiming to have spent many hours studying Christianity and to have attended church for more than a year. In addition, the State party submits that while the letters from a number of church pastors in Canada are evidence of the author’s participation in the activities of these churches, they provide few relevant elements to support the author’s conversion and faith. For example, the letters provide no proof of the motivation for the author’s conversion to Christianity, nor do they show that his conversion is common knowledge either beyond the communities of their churches or in Egypt or prove that the author would maintain his Christian faith if he were removed to Egypt. 6.17 Finally, regarding the human rights situation in Egypt, the State party recalls that the Committee has made it clear that the existence of widespread violence in a country is not sufficient to demonstrate a violation of the Covenant. The merits of the allegations of risk in light of the human rights situation in a country depends on the particular circumstances of the author. In this regard, the State party maintains that the author’s allegations are merely statements and assumptions. It is not enough for the author to rely on general information about the incidence of crimes committed against apostates and homosexuals in Egypt as proof that he would be at risk of irreparable harm. Sufficient evidence should be provided to substantiate a personal risk as an inevitable and foreseeable consequence of his removal. Even if the sources cited by the author provide an accurate reflection of the situation in Egypt, they do not establish any causal link to the author’s particular circumstances and therefore have no bearing on this case. Author’s comments on the State party’s additional observations 7.1 On 6 July 2017, the author submitted his comments on the State party’s additional observations. He recalls that he had entered Canada to seek protection, that he was in possession of a fraudulent passport and that he had been issued with an exclusion order for that reason. When asked whether he was fearful of returning to his country, he had replied that he was not in an attempt to show that the passport he was using corresponded to his true identity. The author submits that the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees recognizes that refugees often have no other alternative but to enter a country of asylum in an unlawful or irregular manner. Penalties therefore cannot be imposed on refugees who do so.34 The author submits that Canadian law has incorporated this provision in its domestic legislation, since a refugee cannot be charged with the offence of using false documents. 35 7.2 Furthermore, the author claims that his conversion was not properly assessed by the PRRA agent, who rejected without cause the various documents submitted in support of his allegations. The fact of his baptism was never challenged and the letters from the church 34 35 GE.18-09612 The author cites article 31 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The author refers to article 133 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. 11