CCPR/C/128/D/3032/2017 Annex Individual opinion of Committee member Gentian Zyberi (dissenting) 1. I regret I cannot join the Committee in its assessment for the following reasons. First, although most cases brought before the Committee by nationals of Afghanistan involve their conversion to Christianity after their departure from the country as a reason for their potential persecution and risk upon return, in this case the author claims he was raised as a Christian since childhood in Afghanistan. Second, the application of the “genuine conversion” test presents significant challenges, as it is generally very difficult to assess whether a person is genuinely interested in the activity in question, be it a political cause or a religion, or whether the person has only become involved in it in order to create post-flight grounds.1 The issue of assessing whether there is genuine interest is even more difficult in this case. Third, ethnic Hazaras were persecuted by the Taliban in the period 1996–2001,2 and the Taliban are likely to return to power in Afghanistan.3 The abovementioned issues are aggravating factors to the possibility of a real and foreseeable risk of irreparable harm to the author being inflicted by a prominent non-State actor and soon-tobe State authority. As a real or perceived Christian of Hazara ethnicity, the author cannot count on protection either from the State authorities or from his own Hazara community. Fourth, the case involves a young adult who: has little if any formal education; has no family or network in Afghanistan, since he has lived most of his life outside of the country; is a Christian; and is from the Ghazni province, where the security situation is rather precarious.4 The combination of these personal circumstances increases the likelihood of the violation of articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant with respect to the author, if he were returned. 2. In asylum procedures, the burden of proof lies on the person submitting a claim. 5 However, after the applicant has made a genuine effort to substantiate his or her story, there may still be a lack of evidence for some of the statements. Since it is hardly possible for a refugee to prove every part of his or her case, it is frequently necessary to give the applicant the benefit of the doubt.6 It is an understatement to say that the accounts of the author and the relevant Swedish authorities differ widely (see para. 7.4). How could a national of Afghanistan, who had fled the country as a minor, provide proof of his age and identity and of what happened to his parents? And should the Swedish authorities, better placed and resourced with access to Afghan authorities, have tried to establish these basic facts? The author’s father worked for the Provincial Reconstruction Team. These were civil-military units, which were introduced by the Government of the United States of America to support reconstruction efforts in unstable States. The units were established in Afghanistan in early 2002. Could other reasonable inferences have been drawn from these facts regarding the family’s religious conviction, as well as the reasons for the targeting of the author’s family by the Taliban? The practice of medically establishing a person’s age, which was carried 1 2 3 4 5 6 European Court of Human Rights, F.G. v. Sweden (application no. 43611/11), judgment of 23 March 2016 (Grand Chamber), para. 123. For the persecution of the Hazaras, see Landinfo, “Report: Hazaras and Afghan insurgent groups”, (3 October 2016), p. 11, stating that “Hazaras and other ethnic groups suffered serious abuse under the reign of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001.” For the potential foreseeable return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, reference is made to the agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Taliban, signed in Doha on 29 February 2020. European Asylum Support Office, Country of Origin Information Report: Afghanistan Security Situation (June 2019), pp. 130–131. Of the 19 districts in Ghazni province, 12 are under the control of the Taliban. Available at www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2010329/Afghanistan_security_situation_2019.pdf. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (HCR/IP/4/Eng/Rev.1), para. 196. Ibid., para. 203. 11