CCPR/C/120/D/2625/2015 submits that the author’s communication merely reflects the fact that he disagrees with the assessment of his case made by the Board, and it considers that he has failed to identify any irregularity in the decision-making process in the asylum proceedings, or any risk factors that the Board failed to take properly into account. The State party further emphasizes that the author has not rendered it probable that he would be subjected to persecution, or that he would face any risk to his life or risk of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment in Afghanistan. 4.11 The State party further reiterates that the alleged violations of articles 13 and 26 of the Covenant have not been substantiated. Author’s comments on the State party’s observations 5.1 On 24 February 2016, the author submitted his comments on the State party’s observations. With regard to the observations on the admissibility of the communication, in particular the State party’s argument that the author’s allegations regarding the violation of his rights under articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant lack substantiation, the author considers that such allegations are, in fact, duly substantiated, as the current situation in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous. He provides a press article dated 2 February 2016, reporting on a meeting between the Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation and the Minister of the Interior of Germany, according to which the Government of Afghanistan had declared that it would only accept refugees and asylum seekers who agreed to return to the country voluntarily. 29 The author further refers to another press article dated 26 April 2015, according to which a young Afghan man had been raped by several Taliban militants in order to force him to commit a suicide attack. The article indicates that the young man was arrested just before the attack and that he had confessed his intention to blow up a police station in Kabul as a way of “washing off [his] sins”.30 The author also provides a travel warning issued by the Government of Denmark, in which the Government recommends that its nationals should not travel to Afghanistan, given the heightened risk of terrorist attacks and kidnappings in the country, including in Kabul. 31 5.2 The author further reiterates his submissions related to the alleged violation of articles 13 and 26 of the Covenant. 5.3 The author considers that, according to its observations on the merits, the State party seems to accord more importance to credibility issues than to the actual situation in Afghanistan. He indicates that although, according to background information, suicide bombers are not generally recruited by force, one cannot exclude the possibility that young boys could be forced by the Taliban to commit suicide attacks. In this connection, he refers to the case of a young boy who was raped in order to force him to commit a suicide attack. 32 He further argues that the Board could have used more recent information to support its decision of 28 April 2015, as it refers to reports from 2012, although information as recent as 2016 and more relevant to the author’s situation was already publicly available then. The author further reiterates that the current situation in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous, which is confirmed by the State party’s travel warning which discourages any travel there. 5.4 The author reiterates his reference to the cases in which the Committee’s interim measures requests resulted in the reopening of the cases of the people concerned, who then 29 30 31 32 Denmark, Views adopted on 16 July 2015, paras. 7.4-7.5; No. 2329/2014, Z v. Denmark, Views adopted on 15 July 2015, para. 7.4; and X and X v. Denmark, para. 7.5. Deutsche Welle, “Afghanistan’s Minister of Refugees: ‘No agreement on taking back deportees from Germany’”, 2 February 2016. Available from www.dw.com/en/afghanistans-minister-of-refugees-noagreement-on-taking-back-deportees-from-germany/a-19020715. Khaama Press, “Taliban rape suicide bomber before sending for attack”, 26 April 2015. Available from www.khaama.com/would-be-suicide-bomber-gang-raped-by-fellow-taliban-3229. Denmark, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “All travel to Afghanistan discouraged”. The author does not provide further details in relation to this document. The author does not provide further details on this matter. 7