Title:
Muneer Ahmed Husseini v. Denmark
Court/Judicial Body:
OHCHR – Human Rights Committee
Citation:
Communication No. 2243/2013
Date:
24 October 2014
Instruments Cited:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: articles 2 (Enjoyment for all and access to remedies); 7 (Freedom from torture); 13 ( ; 23, para.1 (Protection of the family and its members) and 24 (Special protection of children)
Summary:
The author of the communication is an Afghan national, born in 1986 that entered Denmark in 1999 to be reunited with his father who had already entered the country before that time. His father, his step-mother and 5 brothers and sisters lived in Denmark. In 2006, Muneer Ahmed Husseini married a Danish national and the couple had 2 children, born in 2008 and 2010 who lived with their mother. At the time of submission of the communication, the Husseini and the mother were divorced. Husseini was sentenced in September 2002 by the Copenhagen City Court to imprisonment for robbery, theft, attempted fraud, etc. He was also found guilty in 2005 by a jury verdict of the Eastern High Court of several robberies and attempted robberies and received a concurrent sentence of imprisonment for five years and six months. He was also ordered expelled from Denmark and served with a permanent re-entry ban. He then applied for asylum, which was rejected; and submitted a request for the revocation of the expulsion order, which was also rejected, and the appeal confirmed that the expulsion order was not to be revoked.
Husseini claimed that the State party’s decision to expel him permanently from Denmark constituted a breach of his rights under articles 2 (enjoyment for all and access to remedies), 23 (Protection of the family and its members) and 24 (Special protection of children) of the Covenant. He emphasised that inadequate consideration had been given to his right to a family life with his children and his family ties in Denmark. He also maintained that the State party has violated his children’s rights under articles 23 and 24 of the Covenant by maintaining the deportation order. He submitted that his children were born after the Supreme Court decision and explained that his children were Danish nationals, who did not speak Pashto nor had any ties with Afghanistan.
The Committee noted that the communication was submitted on behalf of Muneer Ahmed Husseini as well as his children, who were born after the decision to expel the author became final. It also noted that the State party has not reviewed those new circumstances and, in particular, never examined to what extent the deportation of the author was compatible with the right of his children to such measures of protection as required by their status as minors (art. 24 of the Covenant). The Committee considered that the material before it did not allow it to conclude that due consideration was given by the State party to the right of the family to protection by society and the State nor to the right of children to special protection. Under those circumstances, the Committee was of the view that removing the author and separating his children from their father, without reviewing those new personal circumstances, would amount to a violation of article 23, paragraph 1, read in conjunction with article 24 of the Covenant. The Human Rights Committee concluded that the author’s removal to Afghanistan would violate his and his children’s rights under article 23, paragraph 1, read in conjunction with article 24 of the Covenant.
This case summary is provided by the Child Rights International Network for education and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.