CEDAW/C/72/D/96/2015 as an appellate body to reassess the factual circumstances that she put forth to support her asylum request. It also observes that the author has fai led to produce any new and specific information on her situation in addition to the information on the basis of which her asylum claim was rejected. With reference to the case law of the Human Rights Committee, the State party recalls 12 that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women should give considerable weight to the facts articulated by the Board, which is better placed to assess the factual circumstances of the author’s case. It recalls that the Board, after making a thorough ass essment of the author’s credibility, specific circumstances and available background information, found that she would be unlikely to face persecution or abuse justifying asylum if she were to be deported. 4.4 The State party rejects the author’s claim that the Refugee Appeals Board failed to take the Convention into account in its assessment of her case. It reiterates that the Board is legally obliged to consider the international obligations of Denmark and underlines that the fact that the Board made no explicit reference to the Convention in its decision does not mean that its provisions were not taken into account. Author’s comments on the State party’s observations on admissibility 5.1 On 22 January 2016, the author submitted her comments on the St ate party’s observations on admissibility. She reiterates that she would risk gender-based persecution if she were to be returned to the Russian Federation. 5.2 The author submits that the practice of honour killing has become more prevalent in Chechnya in recent years and that perpetrators rarely face any legal consequences. 13 She indicates that the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has publicly endorsed the practice 14 and made other discriminatory statements regarding women. The author reiterates that her family still believes that she is a “touched woman”, which allows them to kill her. She claims that she would be at risk of being the victim of an honour killing if she were to be deported. 5.3 The author provides new information that the Chechen authorities often visit her mother’s house to search for her, which she claims substantiates her fear of being subject to further sexual abuse by those authorities. On 14 January 2016, the author produced two police summonses, dated 9 and 21 April 2015. She was also informed about the visits by the authorities in a telephone conversation with her mother on or around 17 January 2015. Her mother explained that the Chechen authorities had arrested the author’s older brother shortly before 31 December 2015 and detained him for two days. The author’s mother also stated that she was unaware of the whereabouts of the author’s younger brother. 5.4 Furthermore, the author submits that the conflict in Chechnya has worsened. President Kadyrov reacted strongly to the “Grozny attacks” of 4 December 2014 and has targeted insurgents’ relatives by ordering that they be expelled from Chechnya and that their homes be destroyed. 15 The author observes that, one month after President Kadyrov made that statement, at least 15 homes were destroyed. 16 She recalls that she is seeking asylum because she is “officially” considered to be “at least __________________ 12 13 14 15 16 19-05867 In support of its position, the State party refers to Mr. X and Ms. X v. Denmark (CCPR/C/112/D/2186/2012), para. 7.5; P.T. v. Denmark (CCPR/C/113/D/2272/2013), para. 7.3; N v. Denmark (CCPR/C/114/D/2426/2014), para. 6.6; Z v. Denmark (CCPR/C/114/D/2329/2014), para. 7.4; and K v. Denmark (CCPR/C/114/D/2393/2014), paras. 7.4 and 7.5. The author refers to a 2012 report by Human Rights Watch, in which the organization highlighted “frequent reports of honour killings” in Chechnya. The author provides a copy of an article from The Moscow Times dated 23 November 2014. The author provides a copy of an article from the Eurasia Daily Monitor dated 12 March 2015. The author provides a copy of an article from The Telegraph dated 17 January 2015. 5/11