CAT/C/78/D/1047/2021 1.2 On 4 January 2021, pursuant to rule 114 of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Rapporteur on new complaints and interim measures, asked the State party not to expel the complainant while the complaint was being considered.4 Facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1 The complainant is a national of Afghanistan, of Hazara ethnicity, born in Jaghatu in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. 2.2 Having suffered persecution, harassment and rape as a child by members of the Taliban because of his ethnicity, he decided to leave his country and arrived in Sweden in 2015, on an unspecified date. 2.3 On 16 December 2015, the complainant applied for asylum, invoking the risk of being exposed to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment if removed to Afghanistan. The complainant submits that one day after school in his hometown, when he was 13 years old, he was stopped by some men, who asked if he was the son of H.R. (the complainant’s father). When he confirmed this, the men blindfolded him, tied his hands and took him to a house in which there were other members of the Taliban. The men held him captive for three days, taking turns raping him under threat of shooting him with a Kalashnikov rifle, before releasing him. The members of the Taliban told him that this was a warning. A few weeks later, his father disappeared, and the complainant’s mother and uncle decided that the complainant should flee the country, in particular after a man came to his home asking for him. His family feared that, like his father, he could be kidnapped. 2.4 The Swedish Migration Agency found that the complainant had given credible information concerning the kidnapping and abuse, including the rape that he had been subjected to as a child. However, since he was not able to prove that it was specifically members of the Taliban who had kidnapped him, he was not granted protection in Sweden. After the kidnapping and abuse of the complainant, his father had disappeared and the complainant had been sought by unknown individuals. The complainant submits that he was traumatized by these events and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He experiences shame and the fear that he would have to return to his hometown and that the event would be known to neighbours, causing stigma and social isolation and putting him at risk of violence amounting to torture. The complainant submits that a psychologist/psychotherapist has assessed that there was a risk of further traumatization if he were to be deported to Afghanistan. The complainant’s mental health is an important factor in the overall assessment of the risks relating to his expulsion. 2.5 On 7 August 2018, the Migration Agency rejected the complainant’s asylum application and decided to expel him. In March 2019, the complainant was baptized as Christian.5 Following his conversion, he requested a new examination of his asylum grounds in the light of the new circumstances. When he appealed to the Migration Court in Malmö, he explained that he had converted to Christianity. The Migration Court rejected the appeal on 26 May 2020 and decided that the complainant’s expulsion should be enforced. On 11 June 2020, the complainant submitted an appeal to the Migration Court of Appeal, which decided on 1 July 2020 not to grant the complainant leave to appeal. The decision to expel the complainant became enforceable as at 1 July 2020. 2.6 Along with the decision of the Migration Court, the President of the Court submitted a dissenting opinion in which he stated that the complainant had been able to explain what appealed to him in Christianity in a nuanced way. He had been able to discuss the teachings of Islam and Christianity regarding sin and the forgiveness of sins in relation to the abuse 4 5 2 The complainant currently resides in Sweden. On 4 January 2021, the Migration Agency stayed the enforcement of the complainant’s expulsion order until further notice. The complainant mentions that he came to know Christians at his accommodation in 2016 and experienced them as genuine people who lived according to their faith. In August 2017, the complainant learned about the Philadelphia Church in Örebro and started attending language classes and tutoring sessions. As his interest in Christianity grew, he was invited to the church and started to attend Bible studies in the fall of 2017 once a week. Following this spiritual experience, he eventually decided that he wanted to live a Christian life and to be baptized. GE.23-24373