Members of an illegal church

Concerning Y.H. and C.J. et al. vs. Denmark for violation of article 6, 7 and 13 of the CCPR.

The Chinese authors together with their minor son entered Denmark in 2015. They have been members of the illegal Christian sect Hu Han Pai since 2008 and attended secret group meetings. Since 2011, the male author has been leader of a local group of the sect.
On 8 January 2015, the male author states he was contacted by his superior from the sect, who informed him that a USB flash drive containing names and addresses of the members of the sect was in possession of the police. On 10 January, the family left China for Denmark.

The authors were rejected asylum by the Danish Immigration Service and later the Danish Refugee Board. They found it unlikely that a list containing the names and addresses of members of the sect had been made, and that this list came into possession of the Chinese authorities. The Refugee Board further emphasized that the authors travelled out of China legally and were not arrested.

The authors submitted that it would constitute a violation of articles 6 and 7 of the CCPR to return them and their minor son to China because they would be in danger for their life or serious ill-treatment, due to their activities for the illegal church of Hu Han Pai.

At its meeting on 25 March 2021, the CCPR decided to discontinue the case, because contact had been lost with the authors.

5. July 2023

CCPR 2781/2016
  • Decision: 25 March 2021
  • Comm: Human Rights