LGBT asylum news

"Ich bin ein Niemand" ["I'm a nobody"]: Gay Iranian refused German asylum

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Sepehr Nazari

Source: Frankfurter Rundschau (via Google translate)

By Von Marian Brehmer

Sepehr Nazari is gay and comes from Iran. Where gays are executed when they are discovered. Nazari took refuge in Germany, presented an application for asylum, and learned that he is not welcome here.

Sepehr Nazari, 25 years old, would like to start a new life without fear. But it's not that simple.

In Iran, the country Sepehr Nazari comes from, men like him do not exist. At least, says the Iranian president,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When asked in 2007 during a visit to New York's Columbia University about homosexuality in Iran, he shrugged his shoulders. He did not know what was the question. There are gays in America perhaps, but not in Iran.

The country Nazari talks of seems to be another one to Ahmadinejad's. He knew many gay men in Iran. He tells of secret hangouts and gay cafes, five queer identified online newspapers he has written for. At an international Online Dating Service for homosexuals were just in his home city of Tehran thousands of gays with profiles - more than in Berlin, he says.

Being gay in Iran is dangerous. The article 110 of the "hadd punishments for homosexuality" is: "The hadd punishment for homosexuality in the form of transport is the death penalty. The method of killing is at the discretion of the judge." But even "who has a kissing another of sensuality, is punished with a Tazir penalty of up to 60 lashes." Since 1979, according to Iranian human rights activist, four thousand homosexuals have been executed.

Sepehr Nazari in the spring of 2011 sought asylum in Germany, he currently resides in Dresden, and often comes to Berlin. As a meeting place the 25-year-old has picked his favorite cafe, located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin Reichenberg. In perfect English he tells his story.

Sent to the psychologist

At fourteen, he knew he was gay. Once, when his friend was visiting, Sepehr's mother burst into the room. She saw her son, entwined with a man, "This is immoral! I knew that you're spoiled," she shrieked. The friend fled from the apartment. Sepehr locked himself in the shower, until his father persuaded him to come out. This is only a phase that will pass soon, his father said. Since then the two have never spoken a word about his homosexuality.

Homosexuality is against nature, it is contrary to God's will. How often has Sepehr heard this. However, his parents are not religious, but rather concerned about the family, neighbors and friends. What to think? "I've always asked my mother what she really thinks," said Sepehr. He never received a reply.

Instead, his mother sent him to a psychologist. Some doctors in Iran are focused on the "disease" of homosexuality, prescribing electric shocks as therapy. Sepehr Nazari was lucky. The lady examined him and asked many questions. The result: He had a strong personality. Nothing more.

Sepehr never had trouble with the police. In the university no one knew about his homosexuality, he never talked to anyone about it. A double life? He laughs. "No, a multiple life. A life for the university, one for work, one for friends, one for close friends and one for the family. "

Once, Sepehr complained about a professor at the university because the language students had been only hours to translate Koran verses. He wrote a complaint letter to the dean.

Shortly after Sepehr got a call from the Secret Service. They want to meet with him to clarify a few things, it said. Through friends at the university he learned that the agency knew of his homosexuality. In March, the Persian New Year holidays, Nazari was flying on a Schengen visa to the Netherlands. There he wanted to visit some friends he knew from student exchange. The return ticket was already booked for Iran. But then he came to Berlin, met old friends from the German course. They convinced him not to return to Iran. Only then did he realize that his return could actually be dangerous for him.

He applied for in June 2011. Priority is given to applicants who have been tortured or leave their homeland for political reasons. Homosexuals are not considered hardship cases and thus can not count on a quick settlement of the asylum application. Not even when they face the death penalty in their homeland.

"War zone" in Chemnitz

The first stop of Sepehr was Chemnitz. "This was a war zone," he says about the time he spent in a halfway house in the Saxon town. He describes the home as crowded and cramped. There were burglaries, suicides, and once even a stabbing. The police were called, but did not do anything. Social workers were never seen.

He was then transferred to Schneeberg, in the Erzgebirge. The home was a former military barracks. "This brought the determining authority under the easy-care foreigners who did not want trouble," said Sepehr. The mood was good. The residents helped each other, celebrated and danced in the night, despite the adverse circumstances.

Three times a day were given to asylum seekers bread with cheese, lunch or a soup. Bread was rationed. When the residents asked for more, it was said that there were only two slices for each. In protest, the Afghans went on a hunger strike and rioted in the kitchen. "On so many nights I went to bed hungry," said Sepehr. "There were way too pregnant women there, it was threatening for them."

Then he went to Neustadt in the 'Saxonian Switzerland'. There, the asylum seekers were living in containers. Some of the residents had been there for years. "A totally deserted village," said Sepehr. Only old people on the streets. He was constantly stared at, followed by the supermarket's security personnel. The idea that he might have been in this place for months tormented him. The first three days he did not leave his room. In Iran, he had studied, translated books, was employed. Here he felt under-challenged, intellectually stunted. The boredom slowly wore him down.

Here they can perhaps be better controlled, they can do nothing here. And here they might think again if they really want to stay in Germany. Sepehr also talks about walks in nature, moments of joy in a bleak environment.

In August, one of the living containers was set on fire. The asylum residents were moved into a gym and then transported to other transitional homes.

The closest accommodation assigned to him by the immigration office was in Pirna. Three hundred people crowded there for hours. "It was pure chaos," said Sepehr. Each individual was called into an office and got a new place allotted. Those who had bad luck, had to go back to Neustadt. Sepehr was called in with a Russian. The Russian was desperate, had been drinking brandy and threw, in his rage, the office computer out the window. The police came and Sepehr tried to explain the disillusionment and hopelessness of his friend.

Sometimes Sepehr asks himself whether the police officers and officials in the immigration offices and staff in the homes can ever imagine how an asylum seeker feels. How sad and lonely you can be here in this rich and beautiful country.

At last he was lucky. He was sent to a suburb of Dresden, where the asylum seekers were housed in a residential block. The other residents met their new neighbors with suspicion. No one greeted Sepehr back when he said hello. One day a note from the local authority was left in the doorway. Because he understands German, Sepehr could read the message: the residents should please have no fear as the asylum seekers are under the observation of the authorities.

Whenever allowed to leave his home Sepehr went to Berlin. Florian lives there. The two met on the Internet, fell in love and became a couple. Florian has helped deal with the bureaucratic pitfalls in the procedure. Are you wondering whether they should marry. A marriage might make things easier. After three years of marriage could Sepehr even get German citizenship. "But that's just one small reason. The most important thing is our love and that we both can be in one place", says Sepehr.

Deportation in the Netherlands

But now Sepehr is to be deported to the Netherlands. Since he came to Germany with a Dutch visa, formally the neighboring country is responsible for his case [under the 'Dublin regulation' asylum seekers must be sent back to the EU country they first entered].

Sepehr has become accustomed to the uncertainty. "I've lost my self-confidence. Here I am officially a nobody," he says sadly. Whenever he meets new people in Berlin and the question arises "and ... what are you doing in Germany?" he feels bad. "I know not what to say then," said Sepehr. He has studied, speaks English and the German language well enough to communicate in all areas of everyday life. Actually, exactly the image of a migrant the Federal Republic wants: Educated, young, curious.

But that is not true in asylum cases. Only the threat to the person is crucial. It's about what fate threatens the applicant, if he is deported. And if one from another EU country is entering Germany, then he must be deported under the law there. This is not xenophobia, but European asylum law. But that does not make it easier for people like Sepehr, only here because they have to fear for their lives in the homeland.

When his grandmother calls and asks if he's fine, he told her nothing of the asylum homes, of the difficulties. He only told of the green landscape in Germany, the clear air, the TV in the room. His grandmother always then begins to cry. Because she misses him so.

Sepehr says that others are much worse off than him. Of all those he has met over time in the homes, the Afghans have the worst fate, he says. They are suffered many years of war trauma. Most of them have grueling escape route behind them after being smuggled overland to Europe. Of the two hundred euros, which an asylum seeker gets from the German government the majority of the Afghans save, which then goes to the family members back home in Afghanistan.

Sepehr sometimes supported the Afghan refugees with translation and making sure that the children can attend school. He finally found himself being used and found useful - a feeling that he had almost forgotten.

Evil against LGBT: Ostensibly in the name of god + the law

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:53:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Gay Kenya

By Danny

Shocking, but true, is to learn that out of 76 countries that currently criminalize homosexuality, 45 are former British anti gay colonies whose modern elites in charge of current governments are largely Christian.

The legacy of Christianity and British rule and morality in many parts of the modern world need careful and urgent scrutiny in the light of millions of suffering human lives as a result of the consequences of that legacy.

The legacy is weighing heavily on the shoulders of the LGB who, among other evils, risk suffering the death penalty or life imprisonment for being gay and are excluded from national HIV strategies in many countries because (according to the Law), they remain an illegal group.

In recent times, we have witnessed the worst homophobia and anti-gay hate incidences in countries like Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria. Coalitions have been formed (like; Coalition for the Restoration of Moral Values; headed by Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, former Ugandan Ethics minister) and registered with government departments to have a legal mandate for their work.

Legislations have been drafted with clear and legalized objectives to systemically commit evil against innocent citizens (members of the LGBT community). These activities are spearheaded and supported by religious leaders and protected by the law.

More than half of the countries, who deny basic information and health services to gender and sexual minorities within their national boundaries, do so because of religious and largely Christian beliefs that strongly influence public policies.

Public health and human rights advocates have spoken for over a decade about the risks of creating these significant holes in the fabric of comprehensive national health policies, but leaders in homophobic counties have chosen to keep their ears shut to this calling. This has left a gap in global interventions for universal access to health care, which is regrettable.

One wonders what leaders of today (both religious and political) want to be remembered for, 50 years from now. Do they want to be remembered for gross violations of global and fundamental human rights and a failed public policy on HIV/AIDS? Or do they want to be remembered for being a diverse global community that disagreed about a lot of things, but drew a sacred line at protecting human life and promoting families of birth and families of choice?

The hate and discrimination meted out on the LGBT cannot (in any form) be Christian and Christians around the world should not be deceived and lured into this evil. It remains evil and in sharp contrast with the core teaching of Christianity. An outstanding characteristic of the first century Christian community was that Christians shared food and hospitality with one another outside of rigid family and social systems.

They were families of choice. People were cared for and protected in those communities. There is no community on earth that is living this orthodox practice in our modern world, more deeply than gay and lesbian persons in multiple and diverse cultures.

The fact that the LGBT are united globally for common causes; to care for and empower each other; to change the future for the better; is an indication of the scale of the invisible and unappreciated contribution “families of choice” make to our global family.

Radical stances like Bahati’s Bill in Uganda (for some Christians, the first fruits of their new world order blossoming in the Pearl of Africa - Uganda), undermines both human life and mutual unity. If supported, such stances would require that family members report on each other, if they are gay or even suspected of being so. Sadly, the ‘Bahatis’ in the homophobic world have the backing of some Christian movements and religious fundamentalists from the global North.

Ironically, the global North is taking the lead in respecting and protecting LGBT rights and one might assume that the religious fundamentalists living there, are making similar efforts to influence their governments to change their laws accordingly, but that is not the case. This raises a very big question about the prudence of these Christian movements and their leaders. If they think and strongly believe that GLBT rights are not good for humanity, why don’t they seek to have strict ant-gay laws in their own countries?

Some Christian churches in Africa are convinced that God is calling them to be the new missionaries to other parts of the world and to their seedling congregations that have left the Church and allowed GLBT rights to prevail in this Godless world (the global North).

But their partners living in this world referred to as “Godless” consider the mission unnecessary and have done everything possible to avoid being seen participating in a mission of that nature. In reality, they don’t want to participate because their common sense tells them that the mission is evil.

They don’t want to be seen committing evil against their own people. It is a mission that would require them to report their sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, neighbors or co-workers who are gay or lesbian to the police, knowing that their people will go to prison for 7-20 years or even face a death sentence.

This is what homophobic Christians in countries like Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria are supporting and the clergy in these countries can praise Jesus and urge everyone to love and be good to their neighbor. What a lie!

Globalization has brought us closer to each other and there is no going back. Our silence in the perpetuation of hate and discrimination against a section of humanity has profound implications. We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and be indifferent about this evil committed against the LGBT community (ostensibly) in the name of restoring Christian values and keeping the law.

God invites us to give life, not to destroy it and if we don’t support evil, we must share our concerns and take a position about the dignity, rights and responsibilities that we owe one another as global citizens for the good of the entire humanity.

Danny is a refuge living in Kenya, having fled his country of origin where he was persecuted by his government. He was accused of being gay, promoting homosexuality in the country and collaborating with International LGBT organizations to sabotage government programs and hatching plans with those organizations to destabilize government.

'Homosexual panic' grips Tunisian politics

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:54:00 +0000

Image by Magharebia via Flickr

Source: Gay Middle East

By Dan Littauer

Tunisia’s new interior minister, Ali Larayedh, has been embroiled in controversy and scandal as a leaked video allegedly shows him in a gay prison sex video. This scandal has outraged and inflamed public opinion regarding homosexuality which was already jittery due to the electoral political tactics that used sexuality in order to discredit various opponents.

18 January, a 45 minute long black and white video, dating from 1991, showing two men having sex, was posted on YouTube. The occasional close-up on one of the men’s faces resembles Ali Larayedh, the current interior minister and a member of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda who won last years’ October elections after the first Arab spring rebellion which deposed dictator Ben Ali. The poor quality of the video makes it difficult to determine the video’s authenticity, or whether Larayedh is actually in the video. The video on the site was quickly removed, although it is still available on file-sharing sites.

In 1990 Ali Larayedh was arrested by Ben Ali's police for his activity as a member of the then illegal Ennahda party and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a show trial. He alleges that he has been tortured while serving his jail sentence, while in 1992 his wife was sexually assaulted during an investigation at the Ministry of the Interior.

The alleged video of Ali Larayedh from his time in prison was posted shortly after an announcement by the Tunisian government that three arrest warrants had been issued for senior officials at the Ministry of the Interior. Tarek, Tunisian Editor for Gay Middle East notes that “the security forces of Tunisia have largely remained intact since the time of Ben-Ali and thus many of its personnel are potentially hostile to the Ennahda party.” In other words, the video may have been leaked by someone in the Ministry of the Interior, or perhaps former a high-ranking police officer, wishing to undermine Ali Larayedh by further inciting public opinion using a tactic dubbed “porno politics” by Tunisian activist Ahmed Manaï. According Manaï’s book, book, “Tunisian Torture: The Secret Garden of General Ben Ali”, tactics to discredit political opponents through exposing sexual scandals, and in particular homosexual ones were used by the deposed Tunisian dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, during the early 1990s.

The background to this scandal is important to note. Two days before this incident (16.1.12) Naji Behiri, the brother of the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Noureddine Behiri, was released from prison under presidential amnesty, despite allegation from his hometown that he raped a young boy. Tarek attests: “A wave of public anger erupted across the nation accusing Ennahda party of being at league with homosexuals and paedophiles, terms that were used interchangeably. Highly homophobic comments were posted on related news articles and throughout the social networking sites, mostly asking that Naji Behiri remains in prison and tried and punished for sodomy. Conspiracy theories of homosexual corruption and cover up within the Ennahda party have become commonplace.”

These two scandals have ignited a kind of “homosexual panic” according to Tarek. Many people have been voicing their opinions that the Interior Minister should resign as his behaviour contradicts Islamic values while others even called for him to be indicted for violating Article 230 of the Tunisian penal code that punishes homosexual acts between consenting adults with up to three years imprisonment. Public discourse has been saturated with conspiracy theories that the ruling party is rife with homosexuals, protecting gays/paedophiles or failing to protect Tunisia from a homosexual epidemic. Mocking satires such Ennahda is a “fag” party, “they are all shaz (fags in arabic) in Ennahda”, are “quite commonly heard in the streets of Tunisia” stated Tarek, “often conflating the terms ‘paedophilia’, ‘homosexuality’, ‘sodomy’ and ‘Islamists’ intentionally.” The picture to the left, spread via Facebook, depicts two veiled women are portrayed kissing, while on the right it reads: “Legal fags/Haraam fags” with the logo of the Ennahda party below.

In an attempt to stop such allegations, Samir Dilou, a spokesperson for the Tunisian government, claimed the video was an attempt at a set-up and that the private life of politicians should not be used as a political weapon. All the Tunisian political parties condemned what they called an unjustified attempt to discredit the minister. Tunisian media has not published even one frame shot from the video.

However the current wave of “homosexual panic” and homophobia can be traced to the pre-election campaigning. Firstly to discredit the preceding dictatorship, the party claimed that the deposed Ben Ali and preceding dictator Habib Bourguiba encouraged homosexuality, prostitution and vice which would be swept clean should Ennahda be elected.

During this period nationwide marches entitled أعتقني aatakni (“Leave me alone”) were held in support of the secular parties and against the islamsits. Supporters of Ennahda used the fact that in some of these marches the PEACE rainbow flag (often used in Italian rallies) were waved, alleging and ridiculing that aatakni are in fact gay pride marches. For example in the following poster the viewer is asked to “spot the pictures of Tunisian aatakni from a variety of ‘aatakni’ marches worldwide”, which Israeli gay prides (pictures 2,7), gay pride marches (4,5,8) and Tunisia (1,3,6), where in picture 6 the logo of the secular and tolerant Modern Democratic Pole” (MDP) is almost equated with the star of David. Thus creating and associative link of aatakni=fags=zionists, i.e. bad and morally corrupt/suspect, which was spread via social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter.

Opposing political parties were signalled out using this “homosexual panic” tactic. For example in this Photoshop edited picture the banner of the Socialist Party has been altered to read "sodomy is the basis of the republic", most likely sodomy replaced the word “freedom.” Tarek testifies “many banners reading ‘give us freedom, we want freedom’ were reworked replacing ‘freedom’ with ‘sodomy’ on blogs and facebook pages of supporters of the Ennahda party.”

Supporters of Ennahda did not stop there and vilified leaders or public figures they saw as opposing to their political ideas via scandalous allegations as to their sexuality or support of “social vices”. Most notably this was the case with Dr. Olfa Youssef a famous female intellectual, writer, psychoanalyst and director of the National Library of Tunisia. She is a public figure that appears on TV shows and writes many articles regarding freedom, women’s rights and human rights in general. She was consistently called a lover and supporter of prostitutes and fags. The Facebook page where the picture above was posted is entitled “Against Olfa Youssef who says liwat (sodomy) is not haraam”.

It thus appears that the current “homosexual panic” has its roots in the campaigns started by supporters of the Ennahda party against competing parties. The islamists used far more public and forceful tactics than the old style Ben-Ali “porno politics” that formed the probable basis of the Ali Larayedh scandal. This was done by linking unpopular subjects which were previously taboo, like homosexuality and prostitution, to spread fear, rumours and ridicule of opponents. Such discourses were in turn used by the opposition during the two recent scandals of Naji Behiri and Ali Larayedh, which found an already receptive public which has been continuously imbued with bigotry throughout the electoral campaign. Tarek explains: “what shocked me most is the readiness and enthusiasm that opposition supporters that champion Human Rights and democracy have readily adopted such homophobic discourses previously used by the islamists against the islamists Ennahda party. I did not expect them to use this as a weapon, it created a kind of public consensus and consciousness of homosexuality as something evil and sick”.

Tarek despairingly notes that “the main victims of this ‘homosexual panic’, are unfortunately, the Tunisian LGBT community. In public discourse homosexuality has now become synonymous with paedophilia and hypocrisy, entrenching further negative stereotypes. Under Ben-Ali dictatorship we were invisible, with the occasional scandal and harassment, but this increased negative and smear campaigning has inflamed public opinion and brought immense fear to gays and lesbians living in Tunisia.” The one ray of hope is that all the political parties have now committed themselves not to use any such tactics further. “This I hope will be a lesson for Ennahda, since they let loose this tactic only to find it rebounded on themselves. I really hope this realisation is going to last.”

Video: In US, another gay bi-national couple faces deportation

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Via Towleroad

22 years after they first met, Mark and Frédéric, now with four children, faced a hearing at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Philadelphia to be interviewed in connection with the marriage-based immigration petition they filed last summer.

If the petition is not accepted, the family will be forced to leave the country. They will not separate. All because the federal government does not recognize same-sex married couples under DOMA and outdated immigration laws.

Stop the Deportations has a lengthy, detailed story on the couple's struggle.

And CNN has just done a story on Mark and Frédéric and their family.

New research on mental health of LGBT refugees

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

The Research Institute Without Walls, an NGO that does collaborative research on the impact of human rights violations on LGBT mental health, invites you to join the Collaborative Working Group for LGBT Asylum and Refugees.

Physician for Human Rights, Immigration Equality, and Psychologists for Social Responsibility are our first member groups.

The purpose of the Collaborative Working Group is to share information and coordinate research on the psychological effects of persecution and torture because of sexual orientation and gender identity in asylum seekers. This population faces special mental health challenges when navigating the challenges of rebuilding their lives.

We invite groups and individuals to join us in the formation and development of a working group that will allow us to collaborate on documenting the experiences of our clients. Gathering empirical data will allow us to more effectively help LGBT asylum seekers and refugees.

Our first project is a collaboration with Mike Corradini, asylum advocacy associate and attorney at Physicians for Human Rights. We are conducting the first empirical study on the impact of immigration detention on the mental health of LGBT refugees.

We are seeking LGBT persons who have been in detention who are willing to be interviewed about their experiences.

Please let us know if you would be interested in joining the Collaborative Working Group and/or might be able to refer to us LGBT persons who’ve been in immigration detention, who may be willing to be interviewed. Participation is confidential and interviews can be conducted by telephone. For more information you can contact Ariel Shidlo, PhD at ariel.shidlo@riww.org

Israel refuses citizenship for Israeli man's husband

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Maayan Zafrir, an Israeli citizen, and his husband Felipe Javier Episcopo

Source: Dos manzanas via Google translate

Israel has refused to grant citizenship to a Uruguayan citizen married since 2008 with an Israeli. The couple, who have two young children, may be forced to appeal to the country's Supreme Court, which in 2006 accepted the request of five gay couples married to Israeli nationals abroad who asked to see their marriage recognized and forced the administration to register their marriages. What happened once again highlighted the complexity and paradoxical nature of the rules in matrimonial matters in Israel.

Felipe Javier Episcopo and Maayan Zafrir met online in 1999 and have lived together in Israel since 2001, where they are legally recognized as a couple, according to Israeli law. Episcopo legally immigrated to Israel where he was initially granted a visa and work permit in 2005 and obtained a temporary residence permit. In 2008 the couple married in Canada. Initially, there were no problems, the authorities accepted the marriage and updated the status of both. However, when Episcopo applied for citizenship (continued temporary residence permit), the Ministry of Interior refused to fully recognize the marriage, citing as the reason the existence of a regulation that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman and rejected the request.

The couple is thus confronted with the paradox that the state recognizes marriage only in part. Zafrir denounced the attitude of the Ministry of Interior, stating that what most concerns him are his children (two years old twins) because, as things stand, if he died Felipe could no longer care for them. The couple spoke to New Family, an advocacy group fighting for LGBT rights. The group's founder, Irit Rosenblum, has denounced what he considers "a clear case of discrimination." "It is difficult to understand why the state has to act as discriminatory and humiliating, since the couple are already recognized," he said, noting that they are willing to go to the Supreme Court.

Last September we reported here in dosmanzanas the Israeli Interior Ministry decision to grant Israeli citizenship to Bayardo Alvarez, the non-Jewish spouse of a gay marriage. It was a historic decision, the first time that the 'law of return' was applied to a gay marriage. However, a ministry spokesman stressed that the decision would not necessarily be similar in other cases.

The law on marriage in Israel

What happened once again highlighted the need for reform of marriage laws in Israel. This is a situation that does not, of course, apply only to same-sex couples. In December, for example, the Ministry of Interior refused entry to the country to the Nigerian husband of an Israeli woman, calling him 'just a sperm donor'.

In Israel there is only religious marriage, and most of the population used to join the rabbinate as Jewish orthodoxy (religious marriages may also be held Christians or Muslims). If a heterosexual couple wants to marry Israeli in a non-religious ceremony they must do so abroad, and then apply for registration in Israel. Many, in fact, of those who choose to cross the border to celebrate a secular marriage do it in Cyprus. According to polls, two thirds of the Israeli population supports the adoption of a civil marriage law. However, last year the Knesset (Israeli parliament) again rejected a proposal to that effect.

Torture killing of another trans person in Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

By Paul Canning

Mexican media reported 17 January on the brutal killing of an apparently transsexual person in Apodaca, near Monterrey in Northern Mexico.

The body of a man wearing women's clothes was found by police after local residents heard gun shots and explosions.

According to the police report, the body was found lying face down and was about 25 years old. It showed signs of torture, of being shot as he was beaten, his hands were semi-amputated and there was a written message that said "For Rat" ("Por Rata").

The body has reportedly not yet been identified but had a major identifying mark, a tattoo with the name "Pamela".

The Trans Murder Monitoring project recorded 23 reports of murders of trans people in Mexico in 2011. Last August, in Mexico City, the first national march against anti-gay hate crime took place. That claimed that 700 LGBT people had been murdered in 2011.

Last year it was reported that LGBT Mexicans fleeing for US sanctuary are increasingly finding their asylum requests turned down.

Video: Brave LGBT Russians protest in Red Square

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Video source by VladimirIVANOV1945

Image gayrussia.eu

By Paul Canning

A small group of LGBT Russians have taken their protest against laws intended to silence their movement to every region - and last night they produced images of their protesting arrest in front of the Kremlin.

Their protest, signaled on social media to happen in another Moscow location, in fact occurred in front of the most famous location in all of Russia. Within seconds they were swarmed by police.

A small group of activists within the past fortnight have protested a law passed in the northern city of Arkhangelsk which effectively bans all gay organising. Supposedly to 'protect children', the law actually bans all LGBT public events and protests and the rhetoric surrounding it is explicitly against the emerging LGBT movement in Russia.

The dolls - Piggy, Stepashka, Fili and Karkushi - at the Red Square protest were from popular children's TV shows and the banners said "Good night, kids!"

Two Russian regions have already adopted the same law and the supposedly 'liberal' city of St Petersberg has voted in favour but has yet to pass the law. It is reportedly under discussion in Moscow and Novosibirsk and some have suggested it may become a federal law.

Honduras is test of new American policy on gay rights

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Protester holds up image of murdered gay leader Walter Trochez

Source: Tri-City Herald

By Tim Johnson

From U.N. chambers to the halls of the State Department, global pressure on countries to protect the rights of homosexuals and transgender people is rising.

For Josue Hernandez, the new emphasis can't come fast enough.

The 33-year-old gay activist bears the scar of the bullet that grazed his skull in an attack a few years ago. He's moved the office of his advocacy group four times. Still, he feels hunted in what is arguably the most homophobic nation in the Americas.

"We are in a deplorable state," Hernandez said of homosexuals in Honduras. "When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away."

Three months ago, a U.N. report declared that discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — or LGBT — violates core international human rights law. It listed nations where violations are most severe.

Joining a push that originated in Europe, the Obama administration said in December that respect for LGBT rights is now a factor in its foreign policy decisions.

"Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in what diplomats described as a landmark speech Dec. 6 in Geneva. "It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished."

But even as that view grows more prevalent, it has yet to translate into better security, less hostility or fewer killings in places like Honduras, a nation of 8 million people in Central America.

Since the beginning of 2010, Honduras has tallied at least 62 homicides within the LGBT community, and some experts say the count may be far higher. Some victims have been mutilated and even burned.

The killing of homosexuals is part of broader lawlessness. Honduras registered more than 6,700 homicides last year and has the highest per capita murder rate in the hemisphere.

One recent victim was Carlos Porfirio Juarez, a 25-year-old deaf mute who was taking hormones as part of a switch in gender to become "Karlita."

On Dec. 4, Juarez vanished while seeking sex clients at the Obelisco Park near the army general staff headquarters in Comayaguela, a city adjacent to the capital, Tegucigalpa.

"She didn't have a purse, a cellular phone or anything of value," said Jose Zambrano of the Association for a Better Quality of Life for those Infected with HIV/AIDS in Honduras.

"Only her life," added Zambrano's sister, Sandra, a leader of the group.

The killer stabbed Juarez in the chest multiple times.

Experts point to conservative religious sentiment, machismo, rampant impunity, and social pressure on police to "cleanse" undesirables for the violence against people who defy sexual and gender norms.

"The connotation of being gay, lesbian or trans here is that we are worthless. We have no rights. We should be killed," said Ramon Antonio Valladares, leader of the nonprofit Sanpedrana Gay Community. "We've had people who were tortured, who were crushed and spattered against the wall."

Few businesses catering to the gay community find a way to keep doors open in this manufacturing metropolis. It has only two known gay bars.

"The police always come around with 'orders.' They allege some regulation or other, trying to shut the door. They say things like, 'There are minors here,'" said Valladares.

For gays, the battle can be both public and private. Some relatives shun them when they reveal their sexual orientation, forcing them onto the streets. Many, struggling to survive, turn to prostitution to earn a living.

Several dozen nonprofit groups that offer services, such as HIV testing, say they've been thwarted in efforts to register as corporations, a step that would grant them the legal status to open a bank account, appoint a board of directors or function as organizations.

"We've tried to incorporate twice and we've been rejected both times," said Josue Hernandez, a leader of the Center for Education in Health, Sexuality and AIDS Prevention, a group with some 500 volunteers that has been operating since 1996.

Despite public antipathy, dozens of gay activists gather in front of the federal prosecutor's office in Tegucigalpa on the 13th of every month, the anniversary of the 2009 slaying of Walter Trochez, a prominent activist killed in a drive-by shooting.

Hostility toward homosexuals spilled into the newspapers in October.

When promoters announced a benefit concert by pop singer Ricky Martin, who is openly gay, evangelical and Catholic leaders demanded that he be detained at the border to "protect the moral and ethical principles of our society." President Porfirio Lobo ordered immigration to let him in, saying that anything else would be "a highly reprehensible act of intolerance." Still, youngsters under 15 were banned from the concert because of alleged "erotic content."

Under Clinton's directive, U.S. embassies around the world have been instructed to champion LGBT protection and to take an active role in hotspots like Honduras, Uganda, Malawi, Pakistan and Serbia by channeling funds to advocacy groups and ensuring local officials know that assistance is linked to the issue.

Under pressure from Washington, Honduran authorities ordered police to set up a unit to investigate crimes against homosexuals and others. The unit began work in November. That unit and a partner squad of a prosecutor, three detectives and two analysts have been given U.S. funds to function. Even so, there have been fewer than five arrests in LGBT slayings.

U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske said she believes the policy emphasis to protect rights associated with sexual orientation will have an impact, and not just in Honduras.

Advocates for legal protection of sexual diversity say they see favorable global trends. Groups supporting homosexuals are emerging openly, they say. Spikes of violence against activists may actually signal headway.

"The general arc of acceptance and tolerance is headed in a positive direction," said Mark Bromley, chairman of the Council for Global Equality, a Washington-based advocacy group.

In some parts of the world, violence against homosexuals rises and falls in tune with political cycles. Leaders use the issue to divert attention from other pressures, including economic hardship and demands for greater participation.

"President (Robert) Mugabe created the textbook in Zimbabwe for scapegoating the LGBT community for distracting attention from corrupt elections and difficult economic times," Bromley said, referring to a campaign in that southern African nation over the past decade.

Laws criminalizing homosexuality have led the U.S. and British governments to threaten economic assistance to Malawi, Ghana and Uganda in Africa.

"It does translate into dollars and cents," Bromley said, referring to the economic assistance, but "conditionality really is not the main tool in the tool kit."

He said a greater emphasis on providing training and funding to gay rights groups operating in difficult environments, such as Russia, has the potential for lasting impact, while U.S. diplomats bring up homosexual rights as part of broader human rights discussions.

Bromley said persistent discussions on the matter "can be slow and, at times, tedious, but over the long term they do have impact."

Report: Who are the refugees 'lost' at Europe's borders?

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Source: W2eu.info

LOST AT BORDER reports on the reality of loss and death at the Greek borders. As a close friend of ours said once:

“If you are a refugee and you die nobody asks any questions. But for living somewhere, everybody is questioning you!” We want to break the silence and ask: What happened with all these people whose traces got lost?

Accidents and death at border belong unfortunately to the daily experiences of refugees trying to reach a safe haven. The European Border Control Agency FRONTEX in co-operation with national authorities are heightening and thickening the fences and walls around us, controlling and patrolling the borders and externalizing them to European neighbour states such as Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia a.o.

They have created treaties of co-operation in deportations and huge refugee detention camps at the gates of Europe. Trying to cross a number of borders, among them the ones of Fortress Europe is a huge risk of death! The numbers are shocking: more than 2,000 people died in the Mediterranean Sea only in 2011. Each single person left behind a big gap in the life of relatives and friends.

LOST AT BORDER gives the voice mainly to refugees searching and mourning for their beloved. The report was made by a group of antiracist activists from different countries who have been already involved in the search of migrants who got lost at the border between Greece and Turkey.

It can be quite difficult to find information on what has happened when somebody is missing at the border. Apart from the report we want to help and fill this information gap by a new Blog. We want to connect the relatives and friends of border victims to each other and we want to let you know and feel that you are not alone on this journey! We will never forget. We promise to overcome the murderous border regime and to continue our struggle for a welcoming Europe.

Lost at Border

Asylum seekers tunnel to freedom in Indonesia

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Video by NewsOnABC

Image via Wikipedia

By Matt Brown

About 30 asylum seekers have escaped from an Indonesian detention centre by digging a tunnel under the wall.

The men escaped through the two-metre tunnel in Surabaya city after using spoons, nails and sticks to dig their way from a toilet, under the main gate to freedom.

As some dug, others had played the traditional South Asian board game of carrom to distract the guards.

All of them, including one who survived the shipwreck which killed about 200 people last month, are believed to be from the Hazara ethnic group.

Immigration officers learned of the Sunday night breakout when an elderly escapee was spotted on the road outside the detention centre in East Java.

So far just 12 have been recaptured.

"The migrants dug the tunnel from the restroom in the church, which is positioned close to the main gate," the head of the East Java provincial ministry, Mashudi, told AFP.

"They managed to dig a space wide and long enough to eventually find their way out."

The escapees said they were frustrated because they had been waiting more than a year for the UN refugee agency to assess their claims.

Some have travelled to Jakarta to press their case while others are believed to be trying to arrange a boat trip to Australia.

The immigration department chief in the province, Arifin Somadilaga, has ordered a crackdown on asylum seekers in the wake of the escape.

He has directed his staff to report all future breaches of discipline to the police who will be urged to treat the asylum seekers as criminals.

He says guards at the centre did not notice the detainees digging a hole under the wall because they are understaffed.

The escape comes after some of the detention centre's detainees told the ABC of beatings from guards.

One of the men who was beaten, Ali Mohammed, said he had earlier escaped the detention centre but was recaptured.

Report: Trans woman killed by Cuban police

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Image by flippinyank via Flickr

By Paul Canning

Florida-based news website Cubanet is reporting that a young transgender woman has been beaten to death in police custody in Cuba.

Eighteen-year-old Leidel Luis, who was known as Jessica, originally from the province of Santiago de Cuba and who lived with her partner named Yariel in Las Tunas, died after receiving a brutal beating in Guáimaro in Camaguey, southern Cuba.

It is alledged that she was picked up at a traffic stop 4 January by police calling her "faggot, nigger and disgusting."

The report is sourced to a prison inmate, Rolando Castro Sanchez who names those he alleges beat Luis to death as police officers Galindo Yarian Larena, Juan Ramon Lorenzo, their commanding officer Heriberto, and the sector chief Boris Luis Caballero. It is alleged that her body was removed after she was found dead in her cell in the middle of the night to an unknown location.

Cuba's Communist Party Congress, which opens 28 January, will reportedly adopt pro-gay provisions. Mariela Castro Espín, the daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro and the leading advocate for LGBT rights in Cuba, wrote on her blog this week that the revision of the Family Code in 2013 will include recognition of same-sex couples.

However, continuing police harassment in Cuba, including arrests, has been reported on a number gay Cuban blogs, such as that of the Reinaldo Arenas Memorial Foundation. Gay Cuban blogger Francisco Rodríguez Cruz has also condemned 'irregularities' committed by Cuban police, who, he says, have repeatedly fined visitors to a gay meeting spot in central Havana. In September a death in custody of a transgender man was reported in Havana.

Dissident Roberto de Jesús Guerra, who was released from prison after two years in 2007, said last year that raids by police on LGBT meeting at several sites in the Cuban capital have been stepped up.

According to Imbert Leannes Acosta, director of El Observatorio Cubano de los Derechos de la Comunidad LGBT (OBCUD LGBT, Cuban Observatory of the Rights of the LGBT), repression of LGBT in Cuba is increasing, not only in Havana but "we have documented Matanzas [North Cuba] and Guantanamo [East Cuba] cases." He said that his group would protest repression to the United Nations.

The independent organisation has not been allowed to officially register. Under the slogan "Homosexuality is a matter of rights, not of opinions", OBCUD LGBT ran the "National Campaign for LGBT rights" in June 2011 which included a march 28 June.

A US State Department document released by Wikileaks last September suggests that non-state supported LGBT initiatives in Cuba are receiving American funding.

Finnish court stops removal of gay Iranian

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: YLE

The Supreme Administrative Court sent back a Finnish Immigration Service decision to deport an Iranian asylum seeker who would face persecution in Iran for being gay.

The court sent the case back to the Immigration Service for further reconsideration, stating that case must be examined more closely.

The court said the Immigration Service must carefully examine whether Iranians have a legitimate reason to fear persecution in their homeland because of their sexual orientation.

Last week, YLE reported that Finland has deported asylum seekers to countries where they can be sentenced to severe penalties for their homosexuality.

Homosexuality is a crime punished with imprisonment and even execution in Iran.

Video: Persecution of gay people in Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Video by LGBTsrilanka

"Saman" is a graduate student in Sri Lanka who was doing research on 'safer sex' for his thesis. He told me that while he was working in the southern city of Galle, the local police detained and tortured him assuming he was gay.

While in detention he witnessed how the Sri Lankan police discriminated against other allegedly gay men who were locked up in jail. Fearing retribution, Saman did not want to show his face or use his real name in recording this experience.

Under the Sri Lankan penal code Section 365 A, homosexual acts are prohibited and "violators" face a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. While few cases have ever been prosecuted, the threat of public shame and blackmail looms large for Sri Lanka's gay community and this "dead letter" has become a greater threat in light of pervasive police corruption.

This is only one example of the codified homophobia in Sri Lanka and its oppressive side-effects. Similar incidents are still happening to LGBT individuals in Sri Lanka on a regular basis.

These incidents include, but are not limited to blackmail, violent threats, employment discrimination, and rejection by friends, family, the police, and society at large. Cases of physical assault, harassment, and detention are not uncommon.

Regardless, these incidents are more or less ignored by the Sri Lankan media; even when they are reported, their connection to homophobia is rarely articulated. Of course, many LGBT individuals are happy to keep these incidents quiet, fearing that they would be subject to further attacks if they were outed. Both gay and straight Sri Lankans hold a negative view of homosexuality.

Swiss violated asylum law in ignoring thousands of Iraqi applicants

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

The Swiss Federal Office for Migration violated asylum and constitutional law by ignoring 7,000 - 10,000 asylum applications lodged by Iraqis at Swiss embassies in Syria and Egypt between 2006 and 2008, an external inquiry into the matter by former federal Judge Michel Féraud has found. The government has taken note of the report.

Féraud said that around 3,000 outstanding applications were still legally valid and should be processed by the end of 2013. However, the Government has maintained that no disciplinary action will be taken due to the lapse of time and that officials have not abused their authority in failing to process the claims.

The Swiss Senate adopted a proposal for the abolishing of the asylum procedure from abroad in December 2011. Both former federal Judge Féraud and the Swiss Refugee Council consider that this procedure should be kept.

Via: ECRE

Ugandan ambassador: 'Kill gays' bill dead, 'no persecution'

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Kamunanwire

Source: Washington Blade

By Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Uganda’s ambassador to the United States blasted the head of the United Negro College Fund for sending him an “incendiary” letter last week asking him to discuss an anti-homosexuality bill introduced in the Uganda Parliament in his scheduled speech at a Martin Luther King Day event sponsored by the Fund.

Ambassador Perezi K. Kamunanwire responded to that letter by withdrawing as keynote speaker at the King Day event, held Monday morning in Greenbelt, Md. In his own letter, he said United Negro College Fund president and CEO, Michael L. Lomax, “blindsided and startled” him with Lomax’s Jan. 12 letter raising the issue of the anti-homosexuality bill.

In addition, Kamunanwire claims in the letter that the Ugandan Parliament is not planning to reconsider a bill that would impose the death penalty for homosexual acts.

The ambassador, a former college professor who has taught at U.S. universities, said in his letter that he had been invited to speak on education-related issues at the King Day event.

Lomax said in his letter to Kamunanwire that he raised the issue of reports of anti-gay persecution in Uganda after receiving an inquiry from the Washington Blade and others asking why his organization invited a Ugandan official to speak at a King Day commemoration.

“Following a brief telephone conversation with Dr. Lomax in which I expressed concern that changing the topic would distract from our shared commitment to honor Dr. King’s legacy and advance the discussion of education equality, it was clear from his discourteous and insulting tone that I was no longer welcome,” Kamunanwire said in a Jan. 15 letter to William F. Stasior, chairman of the board of directors of the United Negro College Fund.

Kamunanwire sent a copy of his letter to Stasior to the Blade along with an email message expressing concern about the Blade’s story reporting he had withdrawn abruptly as a speaker for the King Day event. The Blade story cited a press release from the United Negro College Fund announcing Kamunanwire’s withdrawal as speaker.

“My staff at the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda, and members of the Ugandan American community, brought your article to my attention,” he said in his email to the Blade. “In an effort to clarify my decision to withdraw as keynote speaker from the UNCF’s 29th Anniversary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast fundraiser, I am sharing a letter which was sent to the chair of the UNCF board,” he said.

“This will be my only statement on the matter, as I withdrew my name so as not to distract from the importance of the King holiday and education equality,” he said. “It is my hope that the Washington Blade will report this matter fairly.”

Lomax and a spokesperson for the United Negro College Fund didn’t immediately respond to calls from the Blade seeking their response to Kamunanwire’s criticism of Lomax.

In his Jan. 12 letter to Kamunanwire, Lomax said:

“We are dismayed at present polices in Uganda (and in many other African nations) criminalizing sexual orientation, and we view with alarm the draconian penalties, including the death penalty, that the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill would impose if passed.”

Kamunanwire replied in his letter to UNCF board chair Stasior that Lomax’s assumptions that Uganda’s existing laws and policies result in anti-gay persecution were false.

“It is important to note that Uganda does not have such policies,” he said, adding that the bill in question was introduced by a single member of the Uganda Parliament and was never officially debated or passed.

“[A]nd contrary to popular belief, it is not being reconsidered,” Kamunanwire said in his letter. “This has been explained to the U.S. government, Department of State, and several other concerned parties to their satisfaction,” he said.

The New York Times and international human rights activists reported in October that the Uganda Parliament voted to reopen a debate on the anti-homosexuality bill, which was first introduced in 2009. Some of the activists cited a report by Uganda’s Daily Mail newspaper as saying that Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga confirmed that the bill had been sent to several committees for consideration last October and could be brought to a vote.

A spokesperson for the State Department couldn’t be reached for comment early Monday to verify Kamunanwire’s assertion that U.S. officials were satisfied that the anti-homosexuality bill was not being taken up again. President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed concern last year over reports of anti-gay persecution in Uganda following the murder of a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist in the activist’s home.

“As is the case with several members of the British Commonwealth, the outdated anti-sodomy laws in the Ugandan penal code were inherited from our British colonizers,” Kamunanwire said in his letter, in referring to existing law in Uganda.

“Quite similarly, there are dormant anti-sodomy laws on the books in fourteen U.S. states, including Virginia where the UNCF makes its home,” he said.

Kamunanwire was referring to a decision by legislatures in some states to leave their sodomy laws on the books following the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence vs. Texas, which overturned state sodomy laws that criminalized sodomy between consenting adults in private. Legal experts have said the state sodomy laws remaining on the books cannot be enforced under the Supreme Court ruling.

Refugee hunger strike in Ukraine

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Source: No Deportations

In Ukraine, 61 Somalians have been on hunger strike since 6 January in the Lutsk detention centre with another 15 reportedly on hunger strike in another detention centre at Chernigiv. 13 of the hunger strikers are women (seven of whom are under the age of 18). 17 of the men are also under 18

"Either they recognise us as refugees - or they say 'no' and then tell the whole world what they are doing here" said one of the hunger strikers, Sultan Haibe, speaking from the detention centre. He continues "We are not murderers. We left Somalia just to save our life."

The hunger strikers say that one 17 year old, Abdul Karim Siyad is very ill and in a separate room. He had not been examined by a doctor until recently, but Sultan Haibe said on Sunday 15January that a doctor has now finally seen him.

The hunger strikers say they are detained in an asylum system which is profoundly unjust. They say that Somalians are always refused asylum in Ukraine, but Sultan Haibe points out that if they try to cross into the EU they are bounced back into Ukraine and detained. Only about 12 of the hunger strikers had attempted this.

The hunger strikers say that they are subject to police harassment and corruption and can be detained by the authorities for periods of 12 months if they don't have a temporary permit to stay legally in Ukraine. They say that an asylum seeker can be re-detained within a short period after release and then faces another 12 months in detention. Some of the hunger strikers have been in Ukraine for 5 or 6 years before they were detained. Some have been detained more then once.

Their demands to the Ukrainian Government are:

1) Somalian asylum seekers are granted asylum status in Ukraine.

2) They are released from detention.

3) Asylum seekers are to be provided with documents so they cannot be arrested.

4) There is an end to the police harassment of asylum seekers.

5) No asylum seeker is to face re-arrest after a period of detention.

Ukraine's asylum procedure is in chaos. The arbitrary detention of the hunger strikers is just one more way in which the rule of law is ignored in Ukraine.

Recent asylum laws created a new Government department to examine asylum applications, but failed to give it authority to act, while the old department was dismantled. As a result, asylum seekers cannot make asylum applications so they cannot get temporary residence permits and so become illegal.

Asylum seekers who were already in the system often cannot obtain an extension of their temporary permits and are therefore subject to arrest as they become illegal. No decisions on refugee status are being made and asylum appeals are postponed as the new Government department is not recognised by judges.

Even those who have been granted refugee status in the past are often not receiving their residence permits – re-issued each year - and so become illegal.

The Government has increased the penalty for being without temporary residence documents from 6 to 12 months detention. Asylum seekers in Ukraine cannot work and do not receive financial support while they await the decision on their application.

The hunger strikers ask everyone to publicise and raise support for their demands as widely and as quickly as possible. If you are in the EU, please raise this with your parliamentary representative or Member of the European Parliament as Ukraine is sensitive to EU pressure.

Video: Without any window of His own: Being gay in Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Video by MrTanvirAlim

Image by erjkprunczyk via Flickr

Sometimes an image or a word says more than an action. Sometimes things cannot be expressed as bluntly because of fear and stigma.

Growing up, we were taught that society is where men and women get married, and that's how a relationship works. But at least 10% of the total population of a country belongs to the non-normative gender and sexuality.

There is a British colonial law, penal code 377, which prohibits sexual relations between people of the same sex, claiming they are "against the order of nature". The law has been repealed in the UK. While it is not enforced, it still exists in Bangladesh, and it is difficult to speak out in favour of human rights because of it.

The gay community in Bangladesh is generally underground and being out in public is uncommon. There is a culture of collective denial of the existence of the gay in Bangladesh - a fact attributable to social conservatism. Stigmatization and taboo have made the gay community, in particular, a vulnerable community. Unable to cope with social conditioning, they try to redefine a way of coherence.

This video project speaks on behalf of the significant 10% of Bangladeshi population who are almost invisible to the wider society. The individual interviews tells the story of individual longing, belief, a countless of emotions and a silent resilience.

With this work, our intention was to begin a debate around this subject. We want to ask questions as to why gay community is so stigmatized, and why there is this culture of collective denial. We felt it is important to show the humane aspects of the gay community. At the same time, we want to show how the gay community challenge the compulsory hetero-normative ideals upon which our conservative society is based.

Concept: Tanvir Alim
Direction: Tanvir Alim and Arifur Rahman

Camera:
Rubel Hasan

Editing:
Mohammad Romel
Arifur Rahman

Music:
Ehsanul Haque

Creative team members:
Ayesha Sultana
Arifur Rahman
Tanvir Alim

Photography:
Ayesha Sultana
Tanvir Alim

Research, Text and Subtitle
Shakhawat Imam Rajeeb
Tanvir Alim

Made in cooperation with
Boys of Bangladesh (BoB)
Goethe-Institut Bangladesh

Special thanks to
Ehsanul Haque
Taariq Rahman
Roni Haque
Shakhawat Imam Rajeeb
M Hasan Ashraf

For farther information on this production, please feel free to write us
thecrowbd@gmail.com
arifseafly@yahoo.com

Report: Inadequate legal representation for migrants in New York

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Source: New York Times

By Kirk Semple

They are often poorly prepared or make incoherent arguments in court. Some fail to present key evidence or witnesses. Others simply do not show up.

The performance of many lawyers who represent immigrants facing deportation in New York has long been considered mediocre. But in a new report that seeks to measure the extent of the problem, immigration judges themselves step forward and offer a scathing assessment of much of the lawyering they have witnessed in their courtrooms.

Immigrants received “inadequate” legal assistance in 33 percent of the cases between mid-2010 and mid-2011 and “grossly inadequate” assistance in 14 percent of the cases, the judges said. They gave private lawyers the lowest grades, while generally awarding higher marks to pro bono counsel and those from nonprofit organizations and law school clinics.

The study was conducted by a group of lawyers and researchers under the auspices of Robert A. Katzmann, a federal appellate judge in New York City. A year ago, they began sifting through government data and surveying immigration judges in an attempt to measure the quality and availability of legal representation for immigrants facing deportation.

Their report will be published this week in the Cardozo Law Review, a publication of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in Manhattan.

“We began this effort with an intuitive sense of the scale of the problem,” the report says. “The numbers sadly bear out that intuition in the starkest form.”

Judge Katzmann blames predatory lawyers who are not familiar with immigration law for much of the poor representation. The immigrants who hire them often do not speak English and are unfamiliar with the court system, making them particularly vulnerable.

“They are easy prey for ambulance-chasing-style lawyers who do not adhere to the highest standards of responsibility,” said the judge, who for several years has been pushing for better legal representation of immigrants in New York.

For the judges’ survey, researchers polled judges in five immigration courts — three in New York City and two in the northern suburbs — about the representatives who appeared before them. All but 2 of the 33 sitting judges at the time participated in the investigation.

While much legal representation in New York immigration courts is shoddy, the report found that many immigrants do not have representation at all. (Unlike in criminal courts, respondents in immigration courts are not entitled to court-appointed lawyers.)

Immigrants in 27 percent of cases between October 2005 and July 2010 appeared in court without a legal representative, according to the report. For detained immigrants, 67 percent appeared alone before a judge.

The report found that immigrants’ fate can depend largely on whether they can find legal representation: About 67 percent of all immigrants with counsel during that five-year period had successful outcomes in their cases, while only 8 percent of those without lawyers prevailed.

Where detainees were held also appeared to make a considerable difference in their cases. Nearly two-thirds of those detained in New York are sent to detention centers out of state, often as far away as Louisiana and Texas. Yet only 21 percent of detainees transferred out of New York between October 2005 and July 2010 received representation, the report said.

Even a short transfer to New Jersey can have a considerable impact, the researchers found. Among immigrants transferred to Newark, only 22 percent had representation.

Judge Katzmann’s study group said this was a significant finding because immigration authorities were expanding detention capacity in Newark to hold detainees from around the region.

“It’s hard to get New York lawyers to go to New Jersey and do those cases,” said Peter L. Markowitz, a clinical associate professor at the Cardozo law school and chairman of the research team that produced the report. “To take a day to go do a case out in Newark is just disruptive to their practice and not worth it to them.”

The Obama administration has acknowledged the problem of inadequate representation. In 2009, immigration officials announced plans to overhaul the detention system, including providing more detention capacity in and around cities with large immigrant populations, like New York, so detainees are closer to their families and lawyers.

While immigration officials recently closed a detention center in Lower Manhattan, they are planning to double detention capacity in Newark. The study group’s report, however, did not address the potential impact of these proposed changes.

The report also did not consider the potential impact of a new Obama administration plan to review all pending deportation cases in the immigration courts and to train enforcement agents and government lawyers in the use of new prosecutorial guidelines. The plan is intended to unclog the immigration system and to focus the government’s deportation efforts on convicted criminals.

“I’m somewhat skeptical still of that process,” Mr. Markowitz said. “Skeptical but hopeful.”

He added:

“Meaningful prosecutorial discretion on the front end is something that could have a real impact.”

Judge Katzmann’s group is currently in the midst of another project: to develop a system that would guarantee competent legal representation for all immigrants facing deportation. The group hopes its project will provide a model for the rest of the country.

“Having the data means that we can think sensibly about how to address this dire crisis,” the judge said.
New York Immigrant Representation Study (NYIRS)

Trans people 'hunted for fun' in Kuwait

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:21:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Kuwait Times

Arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and sexual assaults on transgender persons have increased in Kuwait during the last four years, says the Human Rights Watch (HRW). Transgender ‘women’ are individuals who are born male but identify themselves as female. “They hunt us down for fun” was the title of a HRW report on the issue of transgender, launched at the Le Royal Hotel yesterday.

Nadim Houry, HRW Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, slammed authorities for using Article 198 of the amended 2007 law to arrest, abuse and persecute a transgender. The 63-page report bears documents and testimonies by transgender women victimized by Kuwaiti police since 2008.

“The law has been a huge enabling factor to arrest and abuse members of the transgender. It is like giving a green light to authorities, not only to police but even members of society, to arrest and torture transgender persons and use force and impunity against them.”

According to Houry, the frequency of torture and abuses against the transgendered has definitely increased to a tremendous level in the past four years.

“Just before amending the law, we did not see such a huge number of abuses against transgender,” he added. HRW slammed Kuwaiti police for torturing and sexually abusing transgender women and called on the Gulf state to hold officers accountable.

“Our key recommendations are clear, we want the authorities here to investigate the torture, sexual assault and ill-treatment of detainees and prosecute those responsible in accordance with the law,” Al-Houry mentioned citing the content of the report.

“We want Kuwait to ensure that until its repeal (of amended 2007 law) the law is not applied to anyone who has been diagnosed with gender identity disorder,” the report added. Rasha Moumneh, HRW researcher, read out summary reports of about 40 transgender women who were arrested, harassed and abused by Kuwaiti police.

Transgender women reported that sexual assault they endured at the hands of policemen includes touching, groping, rape and blackmailing them into non-consensual sex by threatening to arrest them if they did not comply.

Transgender women have also reported degrading and humiliating treatment by police, which includes being forced to strip and parade around a police station, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation and verbal intimidation. According to Moumneh, a common complaint among transgender women is police blackmail for sex under threat of arrest. One of the testimonies read was the case of Rima, 27, who admitted to virtually being a sex slave during college days.

“In October 2009 I passed a checkpoint right outside my university gate. I got scared of course and turned back, but the policeman got suspicious. I stayed on campus for five hours until I was sure that the checkpoint moved. The next day I saw the same police officer. When I was walking towards my car, he stopped me and asked for my ID. I gave it to him, and immediately the sexual harassment started. He forced me to take off my top so he could see my breast, right in the middle of the parking lot. When I told him he had no right to treat me that way, he said “either you take my number and meet me for sex or I will take you to prison.”

To avoid arrest and torture, Rima accepted the offer from the police officer and was enslaved for the rest of college, the testimony says.

Transgender women reported being arrested even when they were wearing male clothing and then later being forced by police to dress in women’s clothing. In some cases documented by Human Rights Watch, transgender women said police arrested them because they had a “soft voice” or “smooth skin.” Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East Director, noted in a statement that “No one-regardless of his or her gender identity-deserves to be arrested on the basis of a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police.”

“The Kuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groups who face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the application of an unfair law,” she said in a statement.

Worries on Canadian refugee rule change, impact on LGBT

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Xtra

By Dale Smith

The Canadian Council of Refugees (CCR) is worried proposed government changes to Canada’s refugee regulations could mean refugees who have been persecuted for being gay will not be allowed to apply.

Janet Dench, executive director of CCR, says the new rules would mean gay claimants and other marginalized refugees would be excluded or face much bigger hurdles.

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) recently published the proposed changes in the Canada Gazette. The changes would limit refugees sponsored under the groups of five (G5s) and community sponsors (CS) categories.

Refugees entering under the G5 category are sponsored by five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents who act as guarantors for the claimant. Meanwhile, community sponsors include both for-profit and non-profit organizations willing to sponsor refugees and provide funds for them after they are in Canada.

The government would instead bring in refugees recognized by either the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or a state.

This follows a move to cap the number of refugees brought into the country by sponsorship agreement holders (SAHs). These are usually religious, cultural or humanitarian groups that have signed multiyear agreements with the ministry in order to be able to sponsor refugees more than once.

The government instead pledged to bring in more government-assisted refugees solely from the UNHCR list.

“Certain groups of people would be excluded,” says Dench. “In quite a lot of countries in Africa, it’s not the UNHCR that does the recognition but the state – but if that state does not recognize applications from refugees on the basis of sexual orientation, which is not by any means universally applied, then that would mean that the G5s couldn’t respond to them.”

At the moment, G5s annually sponsor approximately 40 percent of all refugees, and SAHs sponsor around 60 percent, with community sponsors submitting a handful every year.

Dench says a great strength of the private sponsorship program is that it has allowed Canadians to respond to refugees who are otherwise ignored, discounted or marginalized.

“Every time you try to build up a new requirement, there are new categories of refugees who will continue to be marginalized, and Canadians won’t be able to respond to them,” she says.

In the proposal, Sarita Bhatla, director general of CIC’s refugees branch, argues that the changes, along with giving the department the authority to return applications that are not filled out to the department’s satisfaction, will tackle wait times for private sponsorship of refugees.

“The amendments are expected to increase program efficiency as a whole and improve the volume and quality of applications,” Bhatla writes. “The anticipated higher approval rates for G5/CS applications will make it easier for CIC to predict and manage the number of applications received each year from private sponsors relative to the annual levels tabled in Parliament.”

The proposal states that government-sponsored refugees under the UNHCR process have a 90-percent approval rating, while private sponsorship between 2006 and 2010 averaged 57 percent.

Dench says giving the department the ability to return incomplete applications will present a new barrier to smaller groups trying to sponsor refugees.

“It just puts all the burden on the hands of the sponsors to figure out how to make it work and to make sure that they’ve answered all of the questions that need to be answered in the right sort of way,” she explains, noting that previously an immigration officer would help applicants and explain confusing sections of the application.

The application process is complicated, says Dench, and it requires a range of documents that vary depending on which country the applicant comes from.

“How are you as a G5 going to know if the refugee that you want to sponsor has got document A?” Dench asks. “How do you know if document A meets the requirements? It’s not clear how easy it is for people to know.”

Concerns have also been expressed about the use of visa offices to process applications for UNCHR-recognized refugees. Local citizens staff many foreign offices.

“Who gets to decide which applications will be forwarded . . . this is where homophobia is going to raise its ugly head, because people who are working in the Canadian visa office are not separate from their own culture,” says Chris Morrissey, of the Rainbow Refugee Committee. “Even though the guidelines from Canada on sexual orientation and gender identity are covered, there is always that concern individuals have – will this person be fair? Will there be homophobia? Will they be rejected? All of that stuff comes into play, if it comes out of a visa office.”

Moreover, because UNHCR-recognized refugees must leave their country of origin in order to apply for recognition and eventual resettlement, Morrissey says there are additional challenges for lesbians fleeing persecution.

“There are so many barriers for lesbians in terms of permission [to leave the country, often required from their fathers], in terms of education, in terms of being able to survive in any way outside of sex trade work,” Morrissey says. “For them it’s much more difficult.”

Morrissey says Rainbow Refugee’s work with queer refugees will not be affected – it works with sponsorship agreement holders, and these groups are not bound to sponsor only UNHCR refugees. Its terms with the government mean those refugees it sponsors will not be applied to the SAH’s caps.

“The problem is we have to work with an SAH, and the SAHs know that they’ve got a cap, and the SAHs don’t quite trust that our applications won’t be counted as part of their applications,” Morrissey says.

Canadian Council for Refugees: Comments on notice of intent – changes to the Private Sponsorship of Refugee...

Video: I Am Alike: A Nigerian Boi's Reflection on 'Pariah'

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:15:00 +0000

Source: Autostraddle

By Spectra Speaks

My cargo shorts and graphic tees weren't exactly what my mother had in mind when she envisioned showing off her daughter who'd "just returned from America with an MIT degree!" to her friends at church.

The prodigal daughter, I'd returned home to Nigeria for my high school bestie's wedding. We hadn't seen each other in five years; during that time I'd not only come out as queer, but founded an organization for immigrant and/or queer women of color (QWOC+ Boston), cut my hair into a frohawk, and started dressing as a boy. I'd pretty much gone from a lip-gloss-wearing straight girl to the gayest person ever, but nobody had witnessed the transition, not even my friend who was getting married. I hadn't reached out to her for fear that I wouldn't be able to lie about who I was, and that soon after she'd tell her mom, who would tell other moms, and eventually the rest of Lagos where my parents lived, forcing my mother to endure becoming the center of gossip and ostracizing her from the very social networks she needed to survive as an aging entrepreneur. In order to make ends meet, my mother relied heavily on referrals from her religious community about various contract jobs -- event planning, hotel management etc; the last thing she needed was a taboo subject like "lesbianism" turning off potential clients.

Needless to say, I hesitated when my friend invited me to be part of her bridal train, but I couldn't refuse an invitation to be part of my girl's wedding, even if it meant wearing a bridesmaid dress. I tried to get out of it but she firmly insisted that the dress wasn't up for negotiation. "Well, what then if you don't wear a dress?" she'd asked laughing, "So, you're going to wear a suit and stand with the boys?" It hurt my feelings, but I laughed along with her and retorted, "Obviously not. That would be ridiculous." That was just the beginning.

I spent the entire two weeks of my first visit home since my queer transformation absorbing my mother's daily jabs at my clothing (and eventually, anything I said): "So you're earning all this money and can't even afford some nice tops?", "You really should dress your age", "What, you think you're a boy now?" Gender binaries. If there was ever a place for them to thrive unchecked, it would be Lagos, Nigeria, a place where being gay is not just viewed as a choice, but a crime, and -- pending the new anti-LGBT bill being deliberated -- holding hands with your best friend or choosing same-sex roommates could be made punishable for up to 14 years in prison. But while I was plenty aware of the political debate around my identity as a queer African, I couldn't have cared less about the law; I was still trying to survive within the confines of my own home.

The night before the wedding, my mother was chaperoning me through the bridesmaid dress fitting. As the strapless lilac dress found its awkward place on my body, the delicate layer of my personal confidence dropped mercilessly to the floor. I felt naked and invisible at the same time. As the zipper went up, I felt increasingly suffocated. The silver, high-heeled shoes my mother had purchased for me earlier that afternoon didn't help either. The entire ensemble felt like a ridiculous costume.

Long before that moment, it had been easy to "dress up like a girl." I even had a nickname/alter ego for that person "dressed up like a girl" -- "The Empress." But now, being forced to wear drooping earrings and high-heeled stillettos felt less like "performative drag" and more like the real me didn't matter.
When my father said I looked "pretty," I immediately went on a dramatic tirade (more dramatic than usual) to assert that this wasn't who I was. "You only compliment me when I'm wearing clothes I don't want to wear," I complained, "I don't feel pretty. I feel stupid."

He laughed then, dismissing my gender non-conformity as me being "a rebel." He'd been a "rebel" too, he told me (although I can't recall seeing any pictures of him in dresses). My mother, on the other hand, was on to me. She eyed the dress silently; it was a fitting disguise and I could tell she was relieved I was wearing it.

Throughout my stay in Nigeria, the micro-aggressions continued: from things as silly to being called "feminist" (as an explanation as to why I had a puzzled look on my face when some girl said that all women should cook for their husbands to avoid making them angry), to my mother dragging me through stores to purchase large, obnoxious earrings, and to straight up homophobic rants, which I suspect were directed at me -- "We don't have that rubbish here in Nigeria -- all those gay people in America, why should we be copying them? This is Africa!" Thanks to America's media, my friends' perceptions of gay people were limited to comic relief -- white gay men dancing glittery and half-naked down the streets, lipstick on, "dressing like women."

When I vented to my friends in the US, I was met with well-meaning -- albeit privileged and individualist sentiments -- "Who cares what they think? You should be able to wear what you want and be yourself. Fuck 'em."

Except, I did care what Nigerians thought of gay people; I cared that I had no proof to show them that "gay people" could include Africans. I cared that I had no proof to show them that "gay people" included me.
Admittedly, even I had my doubts that I was who I said I was -- a gay Nigerian? After all, just after I'd come out and I'd filled my Netflix queue with every recommended film from the Gay and Lesbian section in search of narratives that aligned with my experience. But I could barely find any films that included women of color, let alone African lesbians.

I realize now that I was searching for affirmation of who I was because a part of me was still internalizing homophobia; "I'm Nigerian, we're not gay. I must be the only gay Nigerian in the world." And even when I finally met another queer Nigerian, I dismissed her because she "hadn't been raised at home." If I was so quick to dismiss queer Nigerians, what chance did I have that my Nigerian family would ever come around?

But then I saw Pariah, and I knew instantly that this was the film I'd been searching for. Pariah could save me from endless arguments over laws, policies, and tradition currently in Nigeria's media. Pariah could humanize me -- turn me from "issue" to "person -- and earn me empathy instead of judgement.

For the group film screening I'd helped put together for QWOC+ Boston, I'd dragged a whole crew of people: my partner, a few friends, and my straight Nigerian, Christian brother, who'd always been supportive of me, yet still had moments when he dismissed my masculinity and/or gender presentation without knowing it; like the time my mother had forced me to wear our traditional attire for his graduation (I wanted to wear the men's kaftan, but she'd put me in the elaborately feminine women's counterpart -- the iro and buba), and he'd told me to get over it, saying flippantly, "It's not like you never wore this stuff before."

I remember holding my breath during pivotal scenes in the movie -- like when Alike was forced to put her earrings back on before she returned home in an effort to hide her gender identity from her parents. I wondered nervously if my brother saw then the direct parallels to his own sister's life, if he could finally understand that my protesting the outfit my mother had brought with her from Nigeria wasn't just about defying norms for the sake of being a rebel; I really did feel more like a boy than a girl.

During the Q and A portion of the screening, Adepero Oduye (the Nigerian actress who plays Alike in the film) told us, "When my mother first saw the film, she said, 'People here [Nigeria] need to watch that movie. You wouldn't believe all the things they are always saying. They need to see it. They need to understand.'"

After I emerged from the theater, deliriously happy after seeing a gay character whose experience I could finally relate to, my brother relayed that the film's exploration of masculinity within the women's community was similar enough to his own experience that he too deeply connected with Alike. And therein lies the power of Pariah: whether or not you are part of the LGBT community, expect to "aww" and cringe several times per scene, as both the acting and directing create a winning combination for unlocking the most powerful tool in social change: empathy.

The world is watching Nigeria right now, turning their noses up at our senators who proudly proclaim that "homosexuality is unAfrican". Nearly every other day I read a new press release from a human rights organization that condemns the latest version of the anti-gay bill. Hillary Clinton's riveting speech about protecting human rights around the world may have brought temporary solace to many of us who are directly impacted by the move to criminalize homosexuality in various African countries, but I know firsthand that rhetoric alone will not change the world. I know from experience that my happiness will not come from winning legislative battles, but winning hearts, and films like Pariah have the power to do just that; it is films like Pariah that can and will change the world.

For Nigerians to accept their LGBT citizens as Nigerian, they need to experience queer stories as part of our own cultural landscape (as opposed to an American sitcom on Showtime) and framed within every day issues Nigerians like my parents can relate to: lack of electricity, overbearing mothers bickering over whose daughter will get married first, and simultaneous deep-rooted disdain and yearning for modernization.
Pariah may not be about LGBT Nigerians or Africans, but Dee Rees' bold narrative has certainly opened up the possibilities for such films, at least for people like me.

So as my country deliberates the new anti-LGBT bill, I pray for LGBT Africans to find their own Pariah, and I look forward to my mother finally seeing the film so that, just like my brother, she will finally be able to hear me when I say "I am Alike:" a proud queer, Nigerian boi, but more importantly, still her daughter.

Gay Facebook arrest in Saudi Arabia

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:16:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Gay Middle East

By Dan Littauer and Sami Hamwi

As the British Prime Minister David Cameron visits Saudia Arabia, activists report plight of a man arrested by the religious police who may face corporal punishment.

Activists are concerned for the safety of a 30-year-old man arrested by the religious police in Saudi Arabia for using Facebook to date other men. The man, whose exact identity is not known, was arrested on 23 December (2011) but full details of the incident are only now becoming clear after a detailed investigation by Gay Middle East. Experts warn he may face blackmail and/or corporal punishment.

He is being held in custody in the Dammam Police Department [on Gulf coast] awaiting the Dammam’s General Attorney office for prosecution. The case has been reported to Amnesty International, while Facebook declined to comment.

The report by Sabaq electronic journal mentions that a Saudi citizen reported an unnamed 30-year old man to the religious police in Saudi Arabia, known as the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which proceeded to apprehend the man who finally confessed that “the Facebook profile is his and that he had been using it for obscenity acts with other men”.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) law is not strictly codified and its implementation, in either a lenient or severe manner, depends mostly on religious Sunni judges and scholars, as well as royal decrees (and thus subject to extreme variability). Generally speaking punishments for homosexuality range from imprisonment and/or flogging to the death penalty. Conviction and severity of punishments depends on the social class, religion and citizenship of the accused, whereby non-western migrant workers receive usually harsher treatment than upper class Saudi citizens.

Sami Hamwi, Syria Editor of Gay Middle East, and former Saudi resident explains:

“Native born Saudi citizens who are Suni or from the Bedouin tribes in the country are often let off, while punishment are severely executed against minorities like Shiites and or newly naturalised citizens. Punishments regarding homosexuality are also held against expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, especially those coming from Asian, African and Arab countries. Dammam is a largely Shiite area and if the 30 year old aforementioned man is a Shiite, he is likely to be trialed and sentenced harshly.”

A British Foreign and Commonwealth spokesperson told Gay Middle East:

"We are aware of the reports and seeking further information. The UK opposes all discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in all circumstances. We are committed to combating violence and discrimination against LGBT people as an integral part of our international human rights work. We believe that human rights are universal and that LGBT people should be free to enjoy the rights and freedoms to which people of all nations are entitled."

Condemnation of this case has been forthcoming from NGOs:

A spokesperson for Amnesty International said :

"Amnesty International is seeking more information on this case. If the man reported in the Sabq story has been arrested and charged with homosexuality, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release. Saudi Arabia has sentenced people convicted of homosexuality and ‘sodomy’ to a range of penalties including corporal punishment and even the death penalty. The criminalization of homosexuality encourages the dehumanization of lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and transgender people (LGBT) as their very identity is criminalized."

"Amnesty International considers the use of ‘sodomy’ laws to imprison (usually) men for same-sex relations in private to be a grave violation of human rights, including the rights to privacy, to freedom from discrimination, to freedom of expression and association, which are protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

The Lesbian and Gay Foundation also voiced concerns:

“It is extremely worrying to hear that that the Saudi police have entrapped this man when we know that Saudi-Arabia is one of the remaining countries in the world where homosexual acts are punishable at worst death, but also by severe corporal punishment and imprisonment.”

“We understand that because of the very nature of the country’s draconian anti LGBT legislations there exists, by necessity, an underground gay scene, and if people are discovered to have fallen foul of official prohibitions they risk such entrapment, jail and flogging.”

“The Lesbian and Gay Foundation would like to see the UK government do whatever it can to make sure that LGBT issues across the region are seen as a significant human rights problem and we would urge all those concerned to put pressure on authorities such as the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the US State Department and others to be vocal in their condemnation of such acts which ignore the most basic of human rights.”

Peter Tatchell, Director of the human rights lobby, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, said:

"I urge the Foreign Secretary William Hague, and the EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton, to make representations to the Saudi government to secure the release of this man. His detention violates all the norms of international human rights law. In the longer term, Britain and US must stop colluding with the Saudi royal dictatorship. Sanctions should be imposed against the regime until it ensures democracy and human rights for all its citizens."

Gay Middle East sent an email to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in London which was read and ignored. To the knowledge of Gay Middle East, this is first known reported case of entrapment for homosexuality via Facebook in the KSA. Gay Middle East therefore thought that a user of any social networking site has a right for privacy and asked Facebook for their comments on the case and its possible ramifications. Despite an email and a phone call, Facebook refused to comment on the issue.

While this case may seem to Western readers as breaching the privacy rights, Saudi Arabia does not provide the right to privacy. In fact the religious police encourage reporting of any “deviant” behaviour and deliberately entrap a person for homosexuality, for example a British male nurse who was recently entrapped via fake SMS sent by the religious police.

Entrapment by the religious police does not necessarily lead to prosecution, but often results in life-long financial and/or sexual black-mail. Hamwi stated:

“sexual blackmail and abuse by the Religious Police is unfortunately quite common. When I lived in Medina, a neighbour who was a member of the religious police raped my neighbour’s son, a 12 year-old boy, at that time. The same man entrapped and arrested a Pakistani national for homosexuality; the guy was whipped 80 times and before being deported. Such a sentence often applied when a sexual intercourse cannot be proven.”

If a person is outed by the religious police via a trial the consequences can be severe not only in terms of punishments, but lifelong ostracising by the family, the community and reduced or almost no job prospects.

“The person may simply become a social outcast,” adds Hamwi, “it is a kind of a social-death or in some cases may lead to persecution by the family until the person is killed to save the so-called ‘honour’ of the family.”

Furthermore private communication is also not subject to what ordinarily would be considered in the West as the right for privacy. All communications (including electronic) can be seized by the government for evidence in criminal trials; previously men have been arrested for homosexuality via paltalk (a social networking site popular in the Gulf), and gay-dating sites.

Hamwi explained further:

“the use of internet in Saudi Arabia is subject to monitoring, censorship and restrictions. Most online dating and social media website are blocked under the current Saudi laws. When trying to access banned or blocked websites users usually get screens stating “Sorry, the requested page is not available.” However, Saudis manage to override the Saudi proxy settings and access the websites they need.”

Hamwi interviewed several men living in the KSA about the situation for gay men in the kingdom.

Ahmad, a 37-year-old Saudi engineer, mentioned that he is concerned with using online dating services and websites. “Anyone from the “Hay’ah”, (the religious police) can use those websites to entrap gay men. This is not common, but it happened before and I don’t want to be socially humiliated.” Ahmad affirmed that non-Saudis and Saudi Shiites are more likely to be subject to the legal Islamic penalties than the Sunni Saudis.

Munir, a 29-year-old Syrian graphic designer working in KSA, said that the situation in Saudi Arabia is dangerous for gay men.

“You see, when you are not Saudi, they can arrest you, put you in jail, lash you, and deport you. It is easier to be sexually deprived than having to face all the dangers coming from online dating.”

Fahad, a 42-year-old Saudi citizen, said that he rarely uses the online dating websites while in Saudi Arabia.

“The situation here is complicated because of all the religious, social, and legal restrictions. Gay men in Saudi Arabia prefer not to have to struggle with the laws, since the media can easily raise a social anger when they expose their cases. This happens a lot.”

Audio: Ugandan activist receives death threats

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Screengrab of Red Pepper report on Mugisha headlined 'Bum Drilling Activist Gets JF Award'

Source: Huffington Post

By Michelangelo Signorile

A Ugandan gay activist who wrote a New York Times op-ed piece in December, speaking out against homophobia in his country enforced by the government and the police, has received threats and says he fears for his life, afraid to even go shopping alone or eat in a restaurant for fear of being poisoned.

"Just two days ago there was a very big piece of news about me," said Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, in an interview by phone from Kampala on my radio program on SiriusXM OutQ yesterday, referring to an article he says was written in a local newspaper, attacking him for writing the New York Times op-ed.

"It said that everything we are saying is not true. That we are just trying to get sympathy in the Western world. They put my picture in the newspaper with all these hate words and of course I got a lot of bad emails, bad phones, a lot of harassment against me."

[Edited to add: This article in the Daily Monitor is the one Mugisha is referring to. It accused gay activists of producing the Red Pepper tabloid newspaper, which 'outed' people and called for them to be hanged, in order to elicit international sympathy and attention. The tabloid's reports were eventually outlawed by a Ugandan court. Melanie Nathan spoke with Giles Muhame, publisher of Rolling Stone, who ridiculed the suggestion in the Monitor article.]

Mugisha, who in November received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award at a ceremony in Washington, had written in the Times back on December 22 about the conditions for LGBT people in in his country, which came under international criticism beginning in 2009 for its consideration of what had come to be known as the "kill the gays" bill, a law that if enacted would make homosexuality punishable by death or life imprisonment.

The bill was shelved in May of 2011, but Mugisha wrote that it could be introduced again at any time.

"Here, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people suffer brutal attacks, yet cannot report them to the police for fear of additional violence, humiliation, rape or imprisonment at the hands of the authorities," Mugisha wrote in the Times.

"We are expelled from school and denied health care because of our perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. If your boss finds out (or suspects) you are gay, you can be fired immediately. People are outed in the media -- or if they have gay friends, they are assumed to be 'gay by association.'"

Mugisha also discussed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's historic speech in Geneva last month which put pressure on countries around the world, calling for gay rights to be included as human rights and tying foreign aid to a country's record on LGBT rights. Uganda, like other African countries is a recipient of U.S. foreign aid.

"Every day of my life here in Uganda I have to be careful of what I do," Mugisha said in the radio interview yesterday.

"It has reached the point that where I even have to be careful when I'm going to get food in a restaurant, to be sure that the food I'm getting, that I trust the restaurant, because I'm scared I could get poisoned. Even when I want to go shopping I have to call a friend and say can you come with me because my face has been in the newspapers, my face has been in the media. Just two days ago when my face was put in the newspapers I received harassment already. Now it is my fear of stepping out my house. If I want to go and buy food, because I have to eat, what is going to happen to me today?"

Mugisha fears what happened to the best-known gay activist in Uganda, David Kato, could happen to him. Kato was found dead in his home last year, bludgeoned to death with a hammer.

"That gives me more fear because he was murdered [in] his house," he says. "That is more scary. Not having the privacy. Not having the closure. It's very fearful for me."

Mugisha says all he can do is continue to keep speaking out:

"Maybe if I keep talking, maybe they will stop, maybe the homophobia will stop. People call me up and they, 'My family, they beat me up, they throw me out.' All I can do is shout and say, 'Please listen. We are hurting our own children, our own people.'"

Listen to the interview with Mugisha:

“No chance in hell” for gay rights in Zimbabwe

noreply@blogger.com (paulocanning) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Source: New Zimbabwe

There is “no chance in hell” that Zimbabwe’s new constitution will include gay rights, according to a key MP who sits on the parliamentary committee in charge of the process.

Edward Mkhosi (MDC), one of three chairmen of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC), says despite clamouring for protection on foreign TV channels and the internet, Zimbabwe’s homosexuals are “cowards” who failed to make their views known during a countrywide outreach.

Mkhosi told the Voice of America's Studio 7:

“We gave our people a chance to decide what they want to see in the new constitution."

“In all the outreach meetings in the provinces we conducted, people were very clear that they don’t want gays. As you know in our culture, such practises are foreign to us, we only know a family with a father and mother.

“The gays and lesbians were cowards, not even one of them came out to say ‘I’m a homosexual and I want this’. We can’t talk for them, they are not zombies. They should have come out and said we want this thing, but they didn’t.”

Three drafters appointed by COPAC have begun writing the new constitution. The first four chapters were published in the media last week, immediately sparking a row.

Zanu PF officials accuse the drafters of seeking to leave the door open for the imposition of gay rights through the courts by deliberately using ambiguous language.

Chapter 4.6 (section 3) of the draft already published states that everyone has a right not to be treated in an “unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds such as their nationality, race... natural difference ...”

Zanu PF supporter Tafadzwa Musarara blasted:

“It is the term ‘natural difference’ that, from a legal perspective, will import gay rights into our constitution. This phrase is not in our current constitution; it was not requested to be incorporated by the people during the hearings.

“It is such terms that lawyers will use to argue in court, to interpret it as stating that gay rights are justiciable or acceptable.”

Musarara points to South Africa where gay rights were introduced by the Constitutional Court which interpreted Section 9.3 of the constitution providing that “the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation” to mean that gays were free to marry.

“In our Zimbabwe case the writers are using ‘natural differences’ to provide a loophole that gays and lesbians can then use to apply to the courts of law to have their unions recognised,” Musarara said.

Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (Galz) director Chesterfield Samba says the issue of gay rights will be a key test for the country’s new constitution .

“It will reveal whether there is a determination to draw a constitution which will comply with Zimbabwe’s obligations and undertakings in International Law and the norms of human rights,” Samba said.

“It will also reveal whether it will comply with the democratic requirement of an acceptance of difference, seek to build a non-stigmatising society which embraces all its constituents, or whether it will be merely an expression of subservience to those who wield political power.”

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