CCPR/C/126/D/2603/2015 Annex Individual opinion of Committee members Marcia V.J. Kran, Vasilka Sancin and Yuval Shany (dissenting) 1. We regret that we cannot join the majority of the Committee in finding that if the author were to be deported to Afghanistan by Denmark it would constitute a violation of the Covenant. 2. In paragraph 9.5 above, the Committee recalls that “it is generally for the organs of States parties to the Covenant to review and evaluate facts and evidence in order to determine whether such risk exists, unless it can be established that the evaluation was clearly arbitrary or amounted to a manifest error or denial of justice”. This rule is consistently reflected throughout the Committee’s jurisprudence, 1 and requires a high threshold, which should not be displaced in the absence of compelling facts clearly demonstrating arbitrariness or a manifest error or a denial of justice. 3. As relates specifically to whether an individual’s past affiliation with international forces could indicate a future risk of persecution contrary to article 7 of the Covenant, the Committee cites, in the footnote to paragraph 9.6 above, A.H. v. Denmark.2 The facts of that case were, however, significantly different from those of the present case, and do not warrant the same legal conclusion. In A.H. v. Denmark, the author suffered from unstable mental health, and, prior to his arrival in Denmark, had worked with multiple organizations associated with both the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Afghanistan to investigate drug-related crimes. In particular, he assisted in the arrest of two Taliban-affiliated drug lords, which demonstrated a specific conflict with the Taliban, and, in the context of his past work, he had been the victim of an abduction attempt, he had received written threats, and his brother had been killed, none of which was refuted by the State party. Further, at the time that the communication was considered, new information was available to the Committee, as the author had already been deported to Afghanistan, where he had suffered a physical assault and had faced continued threats made over the phone against him and his family. 4. In the present case, the author was employed as a senior medic with Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security from 2007 to 2012 and performed first aid at a United States base in Kunar Province. He received threats in late 2011 and early 2012, which the Danish authorities found were related to his position at the United States base, but at a low level of intensity which renders it unlikely that the Taliban would continue to contact him after his active service, and the author himself stated that it had been part of his job to receive similar letters and that this was a risk that he had accepted (para. 4.5). According to the assessment undertaken by the State party, however, the author did not demonstrate that either the 2011 shooting incident he was involved in or his 2013 abduction at the hands of the Taliban were connected to his position – in other words, these events did not arise in the context of the author’s work. The author, except for his claim, did not submit any evidence that would demonstrate such a connection. 5. On review of the submissions, it is clear that the State party considered the particular facts of this case. It allowed the author to appeal the findings of the Danish Immigration Service, and reopened the case for consideration before a new panel. The State party also 1 2 12 A.S.M. and R.A.H. v. Denmark (CCPR/C/113/D/2378/2014), paras. 8.3 and 8.6, and E.U.R. v. Denmark (CCPR/C/117/D/2469/2014), para. 9.7, citing X v. Denmark (CCPR/C/110/D/2007/2010), para. 9.3, X v. Sweden (CCPR/C/103/D/1833/2008), para. 5.18, Pillai et al. v. Canada (CCPR/C/101/D/1763/2008), paras. 11.2 and 11.4, Lin v. Australia (CCPR/C/107/D/1957/2010), para. 9.3, A.A. v. Canada (CCPR/C/103/D/1819/2008), para. 7.8, and Z. v. Australia (CCPR/C/111/D/2049/2011), para. 9.3. See also Ashby v. Trinidad and Tobago (CCPR/C/74/D/580/1994), para. 10.3. A.H. v. Denmark (CCPR/C/114/D/2370/2014).