HRC, M.K.H. v. Denmark, 2016

M.K.H. is a national of Bangladesh, of Bengal ethnicity and a Muslim, whose asylum claim based on sexual orientation was rejected by Danish authorities. He claimed before the Human Rights Council (HRC) that, in case of return to Bangladesh, he would be a victim of a violation by Denmark of his rights under article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Prohibition of torture). According to the HRC, when assessing the risk faced by M.K.H., the Danish authorities failed to take adequately into account his version of the events he faced in Bangladesh, the documents he provided and the available background information about the risks faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Bangladesh, thereby arbitrarily dismissing the author’s claims. Therefore, it concluded that M.K.H.’s deportation to Bangladesh would amount to a violation of article 7 of the Covenant.