CCPR/C/119/D/2613/2015 argument that El Salvador has recently taken measures to eliminate gang violence, but that the impact of those measures remains unknown and that gang-related violence persists. 8.11 In the light of the above, the Committee considers that, when assessing the risk faced by the author, the State party failed to adequately take into account the totality of the available information and its cumulative effect, according to which the author would be at real risk of irreparable harm if removed to El Salvador. In such circumstances, it considers that the author’s removal to El Salvador would violate articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant. 8.12 Having reached the above conclusion, the Committee decides not to examine separately the author’s claims under articles 2 (3) and 9 of the Covenant. 9. The Committee, acting under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, is of the view that, if implemented, the removal of the author to El Salvador would violate his rights under articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant. 10. In accordance with article 2 (1) of the Covenant, which establishes that States parties undertake to respect and to ensure to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, the State party is under an obligation to proceed to a review of the author’s claim, taking into account the State party’s obligations under the Covenant and the present Views. The Committee requests the State party to refrain from expelling the author while his request for asylum is being reconsidered. 11. Bearing in mind that, by becoming a State party to the Optional Protocol, the State party has recognized the competence of the Committee to determine whether there has been a violation of the Covenant and that, pursuant to article 2 of the Covenant, the State party has undertaken to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, the Committee wishes to receive from the State party, within 180 days, information about the measures taken to give effect to its Views. The State party is also requested to publish the present Views and disseminate them widely in the official languages of the State party. violence overwhelms nation”, The Guardian, 6 April 2015; and S. Kinosian, “El Salvador’s Gang Violence: Turf Wars, Internal Battles and Life Defined by Invisible Borders” (Security Assistance Monitor, 10 February 2016), available from http://lawg.org/action-center/lawg-blog/69-general/1579el-salvadors-gang-violence-turf-wars-internal-battles-and-life-defined-by-invisible-borders. 16