CCPR/C/114/D/2343/2014 dismissed the allegations that the Egyptian authorities have turned up at the author’s home for lack of evidence and for lack of substantiation as to the reason why the authorities would visit the author’s mother to look for him. The Committee also notes the persistent reports raising serious concerns about the general human rights situation in Egypt, and notes in particular of the reported cases of marginalization of the opposition to supress all dissent; the State surveillance of electronic communications; the mass arrests of suspected supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood; the torture and ill-treatment of those arrested and detained; the killing of protesters; the widespread use of the death sentence; the clampdowns on freedom of expression and violations of rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, according to reports on Egypt of the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations;21 and the author’s allegations of kidnapping, torture or killing of individuals who occupied the same or lower hierarchical positions in the group Ultras Ahlawy as him, on the basis of which he asserts that he risks a similar fate if returned to Egypt. 8.5 The Committee also notes the new evidence by the author in the form of an Arabiclanguage online video purporting to depict Ahmed Abdelaziz Shobeir, the former VicePresident of the Egyptian Football Association, in which he stated on 21 February 2014 that “Captain Ahmad Shobeir swears to God multiple times that Ultras Ahlawy is a terrorist group”, contemplating that Ultras Ahlawy should be banned as it was purportedly an ally in terrorism with the Muslim Brotherhood, and that the Government of Egypt should stop the Ultras Ahlawy. The Committee also notes that the designation of Ultras Ahlawy as a terrorist group has not been contested by the State party and that the State party failed to address in its replies the impact of such designation on the risk for the author upon his return to Egypt. Since the author reliably indicated that he could be perceived as having a close link with the Ultras Ahlawy group, which he co-founded, and on whose activities the Government of Egypt has repeatedly tried to clamp down, the Committee considers that the author has sufficiently substantiated his claim that the State party’s authorities have failed in the duty to duly assess the risk faced by him in case of return to Egypt, and thus the initial risk assessment by the State party is to be considered unreasonable. The Committee therefore considers that, in the specific circumstances of the case, the facts as submitted, and in particular in the light of the involvement of the author in the work of the Ultras Ahlawy group, reveal the existence, for the author, of a personal risk to be subjected to torture or ill-treatment if removed to Egypt, in violation of his rights under article 7 of the Covenant. 9. The Committee, acting under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is of the view that the removal of the author to Egypt would violate his rights under article 7 of the Covenant. 10. In accordance with article 2 (3) (a) of the Covenant, the State party is under the obligation to provide the author with an effective remedy by proceeding to a review of the decision to forcibly remove him to Egypt, taking into account the State party’s obligations under the Covenant. The State party is also under an obligation to take steps to prevent similar violations in the future. 11. By becoming a party to the Optional Protocol, the State party has recognized the competence of the Committee to determine whether or not there has been a violation of the Covenant. In addition, pursuant to article 2 of the Covenant, the State party has undertaken to guarantee to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights 21 See, for example, A/HRC/19/61/Add.4, paras. 47-52. See also www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2015, and www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf. 13