CCPR/C/130/D/2946/2017 father’s persecutors may strive to persecute the author too. Third, the cumulative effect of his young age and the fact that he does not strongly practise Islam, that his language will disclose that he has never been to Afghanistan and that he has no known place to go to and find protection in Afghanistan, amounts to a risk of irreparable harm upon removal thereto. Fourth, his tattoo of a cross aggravates this risk. The author was unaware of the relevance of the tattoo for his asylum claim and thus disagrees with the State party’s observation on its “peculiar” timing. The author has stated in the asylum proceedings that his practice of Islam since his arrival in Denmark has been very limited and that, while he does not claim to have converted to Christianity, his sympathy for it as demonstrated by the tattoo, together with his lack of familiarity with Afghan norms, creates a high risk of suspicion of conversion if removed from a European country. State party’s additional observations 6. On 8 February 2019, the State party observed that the author’s comments do not alter its prior submissions. It maintains that the communication should be declared inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded and reiterates that the author’s removal to Afghanistan would not violate article 7 of the Covenant. Issues and proceedings before the Committee Consideration of admissibility 7.1 Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Committee must decide, in accordance with rule 97 of its rules of procedure, whether the claim is admissible under the Optional Protocol. 7.2 The Committee has ascertained, as required under article 5 (2) (a) of the Optional Protocol, that the same matter is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. 7.3 The Committee notes the author’s claim that he has exhausted all effective domestic remedies available to him and that the decisions of the Refugee Appeals Board are not appealable in court. In the absence of any objection by the State party in that regard, the Committee considers that the requirements of article 5 (2) (b) of the Optional Protocol have been met. 7.4 The Committee also notes the author’s claim that the State party’s authorities accorded insufficient weight to the cumulative effect of the circumstances arising from the fact that he was born outside of Afghanistan and has never been there, is young, lacks familiarity with the languages and traditions of Afghanistan, has no family or other social networks in that country, his younger brother is legally resident in Denmark as a minor, does not have a firm belief in Islam, has a tattoo of a cross on his arm and feels sympathy for Christianity. The Committee notes that this assertion shows the author’s disagreement with the assessment by the competent domestic authorities but does not substantiate that any particular errors were made. The Committee notes the State party’s submission that it considered all of the author’s circumstances and found that he has never experienced any conflicts in Afghanistan, appears to be a low-profile individual and is a young, unmarried man of working age without health problems. The Committee further notes that, according to the information available on file, the author’s native language is Dari and he reads, writes, speaks and understands it. 7.5 While the State party’s authorities accepted the author’s account of his past experiences, the Committee notes that the author does not explain on what basis the State party’s authorities should have accepted his assertion of the alleged risk posed by unidentified people responsible for the torturing and shooting of his father in Afghanistan, an incident that occurred before the author’s birth. The Committee also notes that the author does not show that it was unreasonable on the part of the authorities to conclude that it was his own assumption that he would be pursued in connection with this conflict and that the unknown people who came to the family’s home in the Islamic Republic of Iran were the same as those who had attacked his father. 7.6 On his tattoo and his sympathy for Christianity, the Committee notes that the author identifies himself as a Sunni Muslim and that, even if he admitted that his practice was not 6