Concerning E. A. vs. Denmark for violation of article 6 and 7 of CCPR

As a child, E.A.’s father was killed because of his conversion from Sunni to Shia Islam when marrying the applicant’s mother who is a Shia Muslim. Consequently, the rest of his family had to flee Afghanistan to Iran. He then lived in Iran with his mother and siblings, who are still in Iran. When he applied for asylum in Denmark in 2012, he expressed his fear for a return to Afghanistan, since he is sure he will get killed by family relatives who are Sunni Muslims and him being Shia Muslim. His asylum application got rejected.

However his case was reviewed, when the author converted to Christianity in 2013. The author met a Christian Greek who took him to the church. He tried to go to the church as often as possible and had also contact to other Christians and priests in England, France and Hamburg through Skype. After his conversion, the author has received hate mails and threats on social media, which is why he does not use his real name on the internet. If he is sent back to Afghanistan, the author fears the risk of persecution, torture and/or being killed due to his conversion since this is a violation of the Islamic rules in Afghanistan.

The majority of board members during the Board hearing rejected his Conversion and he was thus asked to leave Denmark. A complain was therefore sent to the CCPR. The State Party then decided to award the author Refugee Status, after reconsidering the asylum seekers situation.