CAT/C/60/D/677/2015
known, the village imam reported the complainant to the police in Ghazni. 2 Subsequently,
the complainant fled his village and, with the Iranian man’s assistance, he was smuggled
out of Afghanistan.
2.2
On an unspecified date, the complainant arrived in Sweden, and on 21 May 2013 he
applied for asylum.3 On 30 September 2013, the Swedish Migration Agency rejected his
application. The Agency found that the complainant’s allegations lacked credibility, in
particular those related to the distribution of biblical pamphlets and DVDs and to his
departure from Afghanistan. The Agency concluded that the complainant would not be at
risk of being subjected to ill-treatment on account of his faith or ethnic group if returned to
Afghanistan, and that “an internal refuge in the cities of Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif or Heral
would be available to the complainant”.
2.3
Although the complainant had claimed to be 17 years old when he applied for
asylum, the Agency, after several interviews with him, had found grounds to question his
age. Therefore, a dental X-ray had been taken, which had determined that the complainant
was at least 19.2 years old. However, there was a 16-per-cent chance, according to the test,
that the complainant was under 18.2 years of age. The complainant had submitted an
Afghan identity document, according to which he had been born on 1 Jawza 1375 (21 May
A.D. 1996). The document had been issued on 28 Sunbula 1388 (19 September A.D. 2009)
when the complainant had sought hospital care.4 However, the Agency considered that the
document was “of a very simple nature and had low probative value”.
2.4
On 10 December 2013, the Stockholm Migration Court quashed the decision of the
Agency. The Court considered that, while the complainant had not plausibly demonstrated
his age, the Agency had not investigated thoroughly enough to conclude with a probability
of 95 per cent that he was an adult. The complainant’s dental X-ray was deemed
insufficient in that regard; a skeletal X-ray was also considered necessary. The case was
therefore referred back to the Agency.
2.5
On 22 January 2014, the complainant informed the Agency that he had converted to
Christianity and attached a baptism certificate dated 6 December 2013 and a membership
certificate from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon
Church).
2.6
On 7 May 2014, the Agency again rejected the complainant’s application. The
Agency found that the complainant’s description of his reasons for converting to
Christianity was very vague and that, despite being a literate man, he was unable to identify
any difference between the two religions or to compare how he lived as a Christian with
how he had lived as a Muslim. The Agency therefore concluded that his conversion had not
been for genuine religious reasons, but formed part of an attempt to obtain a residence
permit. The Agency also considered that there was no reason to suggest that the
complainant’s conversion had been brought to the attention of the Afghan authorities or that
he would otherwise face a risk of religious persecution upon return. While noting that the
complainant’s province in Afghanistan was affected by an internal armed conflict, the
Agency concluded that the complainant had not demonstrated the existence of an individual
threat in his home village. With regard to the determination of the complainant’s age, the
Agency requested X-rays of the complainant’s wrists from the Västmanland County
2
3
4
2
According to the decision of the Swedish Migration Agency dated 30 September 2013, when the
complainant had returned to his village, his close friend had come to his house and informed him that
villagers had gathered in the mosque; the imam, who was related to the complainant, had stated that
what the complainant had done was insulting to Islam and that he had to be captured and punished.
The complainant had then travelled to Kabul and asked Ramin (the Iranian man who had contacted
him) to go to Jangalak to explain that the complainant was working for him. Ramin had “sent some
people to Jangalak to find out what was happening”. Those people had informed the complainant that
“someone with the same name as the complainant’s father had been taken away by local authorities
and that the situation was not good”. Ramin had then taken the complainant to a smuggler and paid
for him to be “taken to a safe place”.
According to the decision of the Swedish Migration Agency dated 30 September 2013, the
complainant had travelled for six months before arriving in Sweden.
According to the decision of the Swedish Migration Agency dated 30 September 2013.