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Gay pride in Iran: Quietly, far from the regime's gaze Photo: Courtesy of Neda Magazine

(Video) Meeting in secret, living in fear: Members of Iran’s LGBT community tell of arrests, beatings, rape – and escape to the West. But ‘people are showing less fear of the Islamic regime,’ they say

By Dudi Cohen

Source: YNet News

August 22, 2010

VIDEO – Last month, quietly, under the nose of the ayatollah regime, a group of Iranian homosexuals

Arsham Parsi. Assisting Iranian homosexuals

decided to celebrate the national LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) day. Naturally, however, they were unable to march through the streets of Tehran waving the rainbow Pride flags as they passed the house of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“It was a small event, less than 12 people,” says Faruh, an Iranian homosexual and member of an organization that assists homosexuals who have fled the Islamic Republic. “They had a ceremony at home and then went

'There are no homosexuals in Iran'

out for a drive.”

One reason the event encountered no difficulties and without arrests, he says, was that the participants didn’t spend much time organizing it and didn’t say a word about it. “They said they waved Pride flags but it was probably not for long,” he adds. “It was probably inside the car where nobody saw.”

In Ahmadinejad’s Iran, young people with different sexual mores are not welcome. Just last month, police burst into a party in Shiraz and arrested 17 homosexuals after they were caught with drugs and alcohol, according to the police. Rights organizations say 11 homosexuals face the death sentence just for their sexual preferences.

Pride parade, Tehran style (Photo: Courtesy of Neda Magazine)

Meeting places in each big city

Though the authorities refuse to recognize them, homosexuals still find ways of meeting.

“In every big city there are recognized places where the community meets,” an activist in the Tehran community, who asks not to be identified, tells Ynet. “There are cafes which dedicate an evening to homosexuals, and once in a while the meeting place changes.”

The activist, who writes a blog on homosexuality and distributes information to people who have no internet access, is not afraid. “I grew up in fear, and I’m used to it,” he says. “After a while, the fear becomes a part of life and you stop being afraid.”

Iranian homosexuals also meet over the internet, of course, on sites like manjam.com which has thousands of members. “It happens on the net, and it’s quite dangerous,” says Arsham Parsi, head of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees.

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Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei fled into exile after his wife was arrested in Iran two weeks ago.

The client of human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei has been sentenced to death in spite of retracted testimony

By Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Source: Guardian

August 8, 2010

An 18-year-old Iranian is facing imminent execution on charges of homosexuality, even though he has no legal representation. Ebrahim Hamidi, who is not gay, was sentenced to death for lavat, or sodomy, on the basis of “judge’s knowledge”, a legal loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where there is no conclusive evidence.

Hamidi had been represented by human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has since been forced to flee Iran after bringing to international attention the case of another of his clients, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Mostafaei was due to arrive in Norway yesterday to begin a life in exile while continuing his campaigns on behalf of his clients, including Hamidi.

At the same time, human rights activist Peter Tatchell has written to the foreign secretary, William Hague, urging him to contact the chief justice of Iran and ask that the execution be halted.

“Ebrahim’s case is evidence that innocent heterosexual people can be sentenced to death on false charges of homosexuality [in Iran],” said Tatchell, co-founder of the London-based gay rights group OutRage.

Hamidi was arrested two years ago in the suburbs of the western city of Tabriz in the East Azerbaijan province after a fight with members of another family. Three of his friends were also involved in the incident and were subsequently arrested. Later, the four were accused of homosexual assault on a man and of attempting to abuse him sexually.

A person convicted of homosexuality in Iran can be lashed, hanged or stoned to death. The law includes a variety of penalties for different acts: 99 lashes if two unrelated males sleep “unnecessarily” under the same blanket – even without any sexual contact. A boy raped by an adult man would also be lashed if the court decided that he had “enjoyed” the experience.

After three days in detention, Hamidi confessed to the crime, allegedly under torture. The other three were cleared of all charges when promised by officials that they would be freed if they testified against Hamidi.

However, last month Hamidi’s alleged victim admitted that he had been under pressure from his parents to make false accusations. Nevertheless the local judiciary has insisted that Hamidi should be executed.

Mostafaei initially wrote an open letter about Hamidi’s case to highlight the execution of juvenile offenders. But two weeks ago Mostafaei’s wife, Fereshteh Halimi, was arrested and had been kept in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison without charge until late last night, when the Observer understood that she was released.

Mostafaei fled to Turkey, where he was promptly arrested for entering the country illegally. On Friday, however, the Turkish authorities released him after EU diplomats intervened on his behalf. As he left, Mostafaei had repeated his fears for his wife’s safety. “They’ve taken her in as a hostage; it’s kidnapping,” he told the Observer. “Just look at what is happening to my wife and realise the flaws and failings of the Iranian legal system, especially towards Ebrahim Hamidi and Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who are awaiting execution on basis of false accusations,” he added.

Mostafaei, whose office in Tehran is now sealed off, is credited with saving at least 50 people from execution during his career, among them many juvenile offenders. A recent client, Ali Mahin-Torabi, 21, was released in July after Mostafaei’s efforts commuted his death sentence. With Mostafaei exiled, activists are worried for Hamidi. “It’s shocking that although Hamidi’s accuser admitted in a recorded testimony that he had lied, he is still facing execution,” Mostafaei said.

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Mohammad Abdollahi’s Case Highlights Complexity of Asylum Petition Process

By Devin Dwyer

Source: ABC News

July 27, 2010

By the time Mohammad Abdollahi figured out he had been living in the United States illegally for more than a decade, he also knew that his personal safety would depend on being able to stay in the country he calls home.

Abdollahi, a 24 year-old Iranian who was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, came to the U.S. as a child when his parents immigrated to study at a state university. He says he learned of his undocumented status in high school, which is also when he first began identifying as a gay man.

“It wasn’t until I was 17, 18 that I began connecting the dots,” he said of his situation. “I grew up in a very Muslim family. I didn’t know what ‘gay’ meant. … I didn’t understand the gap.”

Abdollahi is now facing that “gap” head on, with the looming prospect of deportation to Iran where homosexuality is a capital crime. He was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities after a protest in May, and his removal proceedings are scheduled to commence later this summer.

“It’s not something I can imagine,” he said of the thought of returning to Iran. “It would be a very scary thing because I haven’t hidden my sexuality in talking with friends or the media.”

Abdollahi is one of thousands of illegal immigrants each year who seek asylum in the U.S. from physical threats abroad while simultaneously facing imminent deportation by immigration authorities.

Iran has a documented record of persecuting gays and lesbians, including by death, according to U.S. government officials and international human rights groups.

Still, Abdollahi’s case for asylum is not cut and dry: As an undocumented U.S. resident for twenty years, he missed the one-year window of opportunity by law to proactively apply for protected status. He now faces the more difficult task of appealing defensively before an immigration judge.

More than 13,000 immigrants in situations such as Abdollahi’s requested so-called “withholding removal” status in U.S. immigration courts last year, according to the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. But only 14 percent of the requests were granted, reflecting a much more stringent standard than that applied to asylum applications filed by people not facing deportation.

“He’s looking at having to prove greater than 50 percent chance of persecution, a clear probability of persecution,” said D.C.-based immigration attorney Kimberley Schaefer, who handles asylum cases.

The risk of physical harm must also be demonstrably linked with either his race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines.

Sexual orientation is loosely classified under “membership in a social group,” according to immigration officials, and has been recognized by the courts as a protected category since 1994.

“In Iran, it’s illegal to be gay,” said Hossein Alizadeh of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, who received U.S. asylum as a gay Iranian in 2001.

“Even if you’re not charged, however, you face the threat of honor killings by family members and vigilantes. The government does nothing to protect these individuals.”

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, which processes asylum applications, received 198 petitions from Iranians last year of which 91 were granted. But it’s unclear how many, if any, were based on an individual’s sexual orientation because the agency does not track those statistics.

Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, which advocates for gay and lesbian asylum seekers, said the group handled more than 200 cases last year, including several from Iran.

“We see an artificially deflated number of cases from the Middle East because the opportunity for single, Arab men to get here after 9/11 is very low,” she said. “But we do see them.”

The extension of asylum to individuals such as Abdollahi has critics, however, who warn that the system is prone to fraud and abuse, employing too loose a standard to ensure protection of a worthy few. Two recent high-profile cases in Washington State and Pennsylvania exposed rings of asylum seekers appealing for and receiving asylum based on phony claims of persecution and sexual orientation.

Still, Abdollahi, who dreams of being a social worker in his Michigan community, says he’s confident, with the help of his pro bono attorney, that a judge will look favorably on his case.

“The two vectors in his case, like most glbt asylum cases, is ‘are you who you say you are, are you gay?’ and the other piece is ‘how bad is it in the country you left?’,” said Tiven.

A judge will decide whether the accumulated record of human rights abuses in Iran and testimonies from Abdollahi and his friends about his sexuality are incompatible and sufficient reasons to allow him to stay.

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By Soheila Mirzaie

Source: Shahrzad News

July 19, 2010

Soheila Mirzaie of Shahrzad News interviews Nima and Sio, two Iranian gays who fled their homeland to avoid persecution. She hears how the opposition forces do not treat them any better.

?Shahrzad News: Nima is a young Iranian gay who discovered the nature of his sexuality at puberty. At first he ignored the fact that he was attracted to men, and even sought medical advice from a psychiatrist. Then he met a fellow homosexual and realised that his sexual tendencies were normal, that there were many others like him. This gave him some peace of mind and when he was 21 he came out. As is usually the case, his family found it difficult to accept that their son was gay. In consultation with their family doctor and a psychologist however they gradually accepted it.

For many years Nima led a secret life with his partner. Then the religious police and his neighbours began to harass him and eventually he spent time in Evin and Gohardasht prisons. He was sentenced to one month’s detention for his student activities and received seventy lashes for advocating homosexuality in public. He has now fled Iran and lives in exile.

You were involved in student activities. How would you describe the opposition forces’ attitude to homosexuality?

Nima: The Iranian opposition is also tainted by homophobia. You may have noticed how only a few of the participants in the protest rallies genuinely support gay rights. Many well-known human-rights activists prefer to remain silent about the issue. In my view, the one thing Ahmadinejad and the opposition leaders have in common is their attitude to homosexuality. Ahmadinejad tells the world that Iran has no homosexuals. Meanwhile the opposition remain silent and are thereby complicit in his crime.

Today’s popular movement can only succeed if it unites women, workers, students and gays and others in the campaign for their rights. As a civil-rights activist I appeal to human-rights activists to break their silence, to listen to our demands and echo them around the world.

You (to Sio) are a transsexual and have lived in Germany for the past nineteen years. How do Germans regard the gay community?

Sio: It makes little difference which country you live in, they all have much the same attitude towards gays. Everywhere straight people look down on us and don’t take us seriously. We constantly have to prove ourselves.

When we apply for a job we have to endure additional stress, worrying that our prospective employers might discover our sexuality and discriminate against us. This has happened many times. We have been turned down because of our sexuality.

I have not yet decided whether to have surgery. Society regards me as a woman and as such I have to wear women’s clothes and make up. This belies my true identity and is a denial of my rights.

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Source: Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees

July 16, 2010

This week, The Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), received several new reports of arrests of queer Iranians in the city of Shiraz, Iran.

On Sunday July 11th 2010, a private party in a suburb called Podonak was raided. The police lead the raid, accompanied by Basij militia agents and revolutionary guard (Sepah). Reports vary, but we understand that between 17 and 19 people have been arrested and taken to the local intelligent service’s detention center on Modares Boulevard.

Their police files are labeled “Gang of Faggots in Shiraz” and their homes have been raided and personal belongings confiscated by the police. They are to be tried today, in both the Revolutionary and the General Courts, Shiraz.

Since the raid, we have been able to confirm the names of 9 people who have been arrested and labeled as a “Gang of Faggots in Shiraz” and we do not have information about the rest of them.

We understand that the police are going to entrap more queers in Shiraz, Esfahan and Mashhad, and fear that more arrests might take place in the coming days. We advise Iranian queers to be extremely careful with their safety, and to be aware that phones in Iran can and are being tapped. Most queers in Shiraz have deleted their Yahoo IDs, profiles, facebook accounts and other cyber communication. We have heard rumors that a party has been raided in Esfahan, but have not yet confirmed this.

for full story please visit the IRQR websiet at www.irqr.net

Arsham Parsi
Executive Director
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Source: IRanian Queer Organization – IRQO

Monday, July 12 2010

Following a dispute between two families on 2008 Ebrahim Hamidi’s execution orders was issued for the third time last week in the city of Tabriz, Azarbijan, Mohamad Mustafaei, lawyer of juveniles sentenced to execution reported in his letter to the public.

Mr. Mustafaei published a report at the time about the procedures of the arrest and initial interrogations which resulted in the first execution order.

Based on false allegations a young man will be executed

This case was reported to the public two years ago by Mr. Mohamad Mustafaei who is a lawyer. His account of the case indicates that a young man along with three of his friends were engaged in a dispute between two families and was accused by the son of one family of attempting sexual harassment during the fight.  The four of them were arrested based on this allegation and in the initial interrogations they were tortured and pressured to confess to the crime. Ebrahim Hamidi signed his confession sheet to stop his torture; he was hanged from his legs and beaten during interrogations. According to his lawyer, and the three friends who witnessed the beatings, he confessed to the crime he did not commit. All four were tried in two consecutive provincial criminal courts and were sentenced to execution. During their third trial, three were cleared of charges and Ebrahim was again sentenced to execution. On the third trial, two out of the five judges admitted that none of the accused were guilty of the allegations.

Mr. Mustafaei, in his most recent report on this case last week, wrote: “I have asserted in the past that many of execution cases I took on were flawed to the point that an execution verdict couldn’t possibly be issued. This case too, is one of those cases where an innocent person is ordered to be executed.”

Based on Mr. Mustafaei’s report, all four plaintive were pressured during the initial interrogations to choose one among themselves, who would confess to the crime and go to jail, and the rest only appear in court as witnesses, but the four young men did not accept it. At the end, Ebrahim Hamidi singed the confession sheet to end the torture and was sentenced to be hanged. Mustafai explains further that the plaintiff retracted his allegations and signed a statement at the police station indicating there was no sexual harassments against him, and that he made accusations under his parent’s pressure. Even though the initial allegations were retracted by the accuser, and the lawyer pointed-out flaws and failings in the case, Ebrahim Hamidi was still sentenced to be executed.

Criminalization of homosexuals is a crime

Execution is an inhumane and brutal punishment. Execution based on a delusive accusation is unjust. This specific case which is tied, for no reason, to homosexuality, once again indicates that criminalization of homosexuality is harmful to homosexuals’ life and to the society which supports execution of its people.

It must be noted that homosexuality is a natural sexual orientation. Homosexuals of Iran, who are keen in considering moral and ethical measures, strive for their society and culture to realize that their sexual orientation is not a moral or criminal offence. And they reject the indecency of sexual assault, and violation of personal boundaries, whoever committing it.

A homosexual person is a mature and sensible person who favours emotional and sexual bonding based on mutual respect and affection with a person of their own sex; this is a choice based on free will.

Homosexual citizens of Iran come from all walks of life with varied interests and aspirations, and share the respect for religions, norms of secularity, and traditional beliefs of their motherland.

Even though cultural and political pressures have forced our gay and lesbian youth to live in harsh and disadvantaged conditions, many are well educated; possess rich background in fields of civil activity, science, literature, and art; and are dedicated to ethical and family values.

In our opinion, criminalization of homosexuality is the foundation for cruelty not only to the homosexual members but to any member of the society accused falsely of sexual harassment.

Inter-changeability of Sexual harassment with Sexual orientation in Iran’s penal code deprives homosexuals of their rights to enjoy fair and just place in their community.  Prison and execution of homosexuals is a punishment that buries not only the individual, or his family, but the whole society in the horror of an inevitable grave fate. According to the penal code, sodomy act is verified by the accused person’s confession of committing the act, four witnesses’ willingness to testify against the accused, or by the Knowledge of the Judge (Elm’e Ghazi) – thus anybody could be pressured to confess, or any four witnesses could have reason to go against an individual, and a judge could be wrong or motivated to serve a wrong sentence.

Our fear for the family and friends of the homosexual living in Iran

One of the great worries we have in the Iranian Queer Organization is the legal vulnerability against gays and lesbians which stems from vague and obscure legal language in Iran’s penal code regarding homosexuality and sexual offenses.

Iranian Queer Organization – IRQO was founded in 2007 in Toronto, Canada; its goal and mission is to support human and civil rights of LGBT in Iran; to spread awareness about sexual orientation and gender identity; also, to enrich social relations between LGBT community and their family, society, and culture. We are committed to support and advocated for those LGBT individuals who are forced to flee their home and their country to escape persecution. IRQO consists of six board members who have been dedicated to remedy the social and cultural conditions of the LGBT community, with respect to the Iranian LGBT community’s points of view.

In IRQO we are deeply alarmed by the execution order for Ebrahim Hamidi, who has been accused not of homosexuality, but of sexual harassment based on a delusive accusation, without any evidence, and on the Judge’s Knowledge.

We would like to request the Judiciary of Iran to annul the verdict.

We would like to draw people and families’ attention to the danger caused by a flawed case to our children’s life.

We would also like to draw attention to the dangers of criminalizing homosexuality – that holds no similarity with moral and criminal offences- could bring upon all citizens who could be considered as one.

IRQO invites people to support Ebrahim Hamidi and also those individuals who are sentenced to execution because of their sexual orientation, to a fair trial and investigating sessions free of pressure and torture.

At present, a number of young men who are our youth and family-members are in jails of Iran awaiting death-row because of their sexual orientation. These young men have been arrested and tried in their teens. Four of these individuals have been mentioned by name in the Persian Human Rights media belonged to the human rights groups in Iran. Three of them are still in jail and one was executed two years ago, according to his state-appointed lawyer.

We, the homosexual community of Iran, are deeply concerned with general mental and physical condition of these men. Few of Iranian homosexual refugees recounted the tortures they endured in jail to confess to sodomy act both to IRQO and the Human Rights Watch representative. Based on these interviews, they were harshly tortured by their interrogators and raped repeatedly by the inmates.  One of the refugees specified that the confession sheet was signed by his interrogator because his own hands were totally numb, wounded as result of beatings and being hanged by the wrists. These refugees assert that they did not commit a crime, did not rape anybody, and did not have any relationships outside moral and humane measures.

Islamic Penal Code: Homosexuality Chapter

According to articles 221-18 and 221-19 Lavat (Sodomy) is the insertion of the tip of the male organ in the anus of a male person, even if it is a corpse. Punishment for active partner in case the act is considered forced or by a married man, is death. And if the active partner is not married, the punishment is one hundred lashes, and the punishment for Lavat (Sodomy) for the passive partner, in case he is mature and of sane mind and the act was not forced on him, is death.

Our concern is that since the penal code considers homosexuality a crime, and blurs boundaries between homosexuality and sexual assault, the shield of security and safety of individuals and families is thus harmed and at any time homosexual or non-homosexual individuals could be jailed and hanged by crimes they have not committed.

We request the judicial system of Iran to annul this latest execution order and reconsider the crimes related to homosexuality and so bring back security and assurance to families, as a society’s peace is disturbed if people live in a state of fear and insecurity. The harm is deepened if it is spread to reach the main body of a society which is the general public. Uncertainty and lack of trust to the foundations of human and civil rights, and lack of dependability to the precision and sensitivity of the judicial system in guarding these rights and protecting security measures, makes life intolerable for all citizens not only for the ones condemned to capital punishment.

We would like to request Iranian families to contact Iran’s judicial authorities and strongly protest the execution order for Ebrahim Hamidi, who is falsely condemned with the delusive accusation, and to the hanging of homosexuals.

Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the legal code has been based on a conservative interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law.

All sexual relations that occur outside of a traditional, heterosexual marriage (i.e. sodomy or adultery) are illegal and no legal distinction is made between consensual or non-consensual sexual activity.

Homosexual relations that occur between consenting adults in private is a crime and carry a maximum punishment of death. Teenage boys as young as fifteen are eligible for the death penalty. Approved by the Islamic Republic Parliament on 30/7/1991 and finally ratified by the High Expediency Council on 28/11/1991, articles 108 through 140 distinctly talk about homosexuality and its punishments in detail.

Male homosexuality

Sodomy is a crime for which both partners can be punished by death. If the participants are adults, of sound mind and consenting, then the method of execution is for the Shari’a judge to decide.

A non-adult who engages in consensual sodomy is subject to a punishment of 74 lashes–Articles 108 to 113.

Sodomy is proved either if a person confesses four times to having committed sodomy or by the testimony of four righteous men. Testimony of women alone or together with a man does not prove sodomy–Articles 114 to 119.

“If sodomy, or the lesser crimes referred to above, are proved by confession, and the person concerned repents, the Shari’a judge may request that he be pardoned. If a person who has committed the lesser crimes referred to above repents before the giving of testimony by the witnesses, the punishment is quashed”–Articles 125 and 126.

Female homosexuality

The punishment for female homosexuality involving persons who are mature, of sound mind, and consenting, is 100 lashes. If the act is repeated three times and punishment is enforced each time, the death sentence will apply on the fourth occasion–Articles 127, 129, 130.

Ways of proving lesbianism in court are the same as those for male homosexuality–Article 128. Non-Muslim and Muslim alike are subject to punishment–Article 130. The rules for the quashing of sentences, or for pardoning, are the same as for the lesser male homosexual offences–Articles 132 and 133. Women who “stand naked under one cover without necessity” and are not relatives, are punished by up to 100 lashes–Article 134.

Saghi Ghahraman – President

Iranian Queer Organization – IRQO
www.irqo.org
http://blog.irqo.org
http://pglo.irqo.org
board@irqo.org
+416 407 5451

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Source: BBC

July 7, 2010

Lord Hope said that homosexual acts may be punishable by death in Iran

Two gay men who said they faced persecution in their home countries have the right to asylum in the UK, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The panel of judges said it had agreed “unanimously” to allow the appeals from the men, from Cameroon and Iran.

They had earlier been refused asylum on the grounds they could hide their sexuality by behaving discreetly.

Home Secretary Theresa May said the judgement vindicated the coalition government’s stance.

Under the previous government the Home Office had contested the case, saying it had taken sexuality into account when making its decisions.

Fundamental right

The five Supreme Court justices were asked to decide whether a gay applicant could be refused asylum on the grounds that he could avoid ill treatment by concealing his sexuality.

Previous attempts by the men to stay in the UK had been rejected by judges at the Court of Appeal who ruled that if the men could conceal their sexuality, their situation could have been regarded as “reasonably tolerable”.

But the applicants said this tolerability test was contrary to the Refugee Convention, to which the UK is a party.

Analysis

Continue reading the main story Clive Coleman,
BBC News

Today’s decision marks a complete change in the approach that will be taken by tribunals and courts to applications for asylum by gay people.

The Supreme Court has unanimously and unequivocally demolished the previous approach, whereby it was acceptable to return gay asylum seekers if it was considered that by being discreet about their sexuality, they could lead a life that was “reasonably tolerable”.

The Supreme Court has made clear that to compel a homosexual person to pretend that their sexuality does not exist, or to require them to suppress the manifestation of it, is to deny them their fundamental identity.

Gay people should be entitled to the same rights of freedom of association and expression as straight people.

All future applications in the UK, which relate to countries that sponsor or condone the persecution of homosexuals, will have to apply the Supreme Court’s guidance.

The Supreme Court agreed and ruled that the men’s cases could be reconsidered.

Lord Hope, who read out the judgement, said: “To compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behaviour by which to manifest itself is to deny his fundamental right to be who he is.

“Homosexuals are as much entitled to freedom of association with others who are of the same sexual orientation as people who are straight.”

The court said it would be passing detailed guidance to the lower courts about how to treat such cases in the future.

The applicant from Cameroon, who is only identified as HT, had been told he should relocate elsewhere in his country and be “more discreet” in future.

He had been attacked by an angry mob at home after being seen kissing his partner. He has been fighting removal from the UK for the past four years.

“Some people stopped me and said ‘we know you are a gay man’,” HT earlier told the BBC.

“I cannot go back and hide who I am or lie about my sexuality.”

The other application was from a 31-year-old Iranian gay man, who was attacked and expelled from school when his homosexuality was discovered.

Like HT, he had been told he could be “reasonably expected to tolerate” conditions back home that would require him to be discreet and avoid persecution.

Punishment for homosexual acts ranges from public flogging to execution in Iran, and in Cameroon jail sentences for homosexuality range from six months to five years.

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Gay asylum seeker HT: ‘If I go back I will live my life in fear’

Mrs May said she welcomed the ruling, adding that it was unacceptable to send people home and expect them to hide their sexuality.

She said: “We have already promised to stop the removal of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution.

“From today, asylum decisions will be considered under the new rules and the judgement gives an immediate legal basis for us to reframe our guidance for assessing claims based on sexuality, taking into account relevant country guidance and the merits of each individual case.

IMMIGRATION TRIBUNALS GUIDANCE

• • Tribunals should decide on the evidence whether an applicant is homosexual
  • Then consider if the applicant faces persecution if they are open about their sexuality
  • If so, does the applicant have a well-founded fear of persecution even if they avoided the risk by living discreetly
  • If an applicant opts to live discreetly because of social pressure – eg not wanting to distress parents – the application should be rejected
  • If tribunal finds an applicant has to live discreetly to avoid persecution, the application should be allowed.

Source: Supreme Court

‘We will of course take any decisions on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of gay lobby group Stonewall said it was delighted and offered to help the government deal with such cases.

Its recent No Going Back report had suggested that between 2005 and 2009, the Home Office had initially refused 98% of all gay or lesbian asylum claims.

Mr Summerskill said: “Demanding that lesbian or gay people return home to conceal their sexuality bears no resemblance to the reality of gay life in many countries.”

Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council agreed and said: “It is about time refugees fleeing their countries because of persecution over their sexuality are acknowledged as being legitimately in need of safety here, in line with those fleeing other human rights abuses.”

The charity Refugee Action called for UK Border Agency staff to receive further training about issues that could affect gay people in their home countries.

Its chief executive Jill Roberts said: “It is crucial that the right decision is made first time so that people are not returned to danger.”

More »

By Kim Kozlowski

Source: The Detroit News

May 20, 2010

Mohammad Abdollahi was putting his life on the line when he lobbied for immigration reform in Arizona this week, experts say.

The undocumented Ann Arbor resident, along with three other students, was arrested Monday and later detained by immigration officials in Arizona when he refused to leave Sen. John McCain’s office. The incidents spawned a response across the country, including two vigils, a protest and hunger strike among some Michigan students.

Though the four have been released, they now face deportation hearings in immigration courts in their home states, officials said Wednesday.

But what makes Abdollahi’s case unique is he is gay, and deportation for him could mean death in his native country of Iran.

“His safety and well-being would be in immediate jeopardy if he is returned to Iran,” said Steve Ralls, spokesman for Immigration Equality, a New York-based legal aid organization for gay immigrants. “It is a notorious homophobic country where lesbians and gays routinely face torture, violence and even execution. It is among the most dangerous countries on the globe for lesbian and gay people.”

But Abdollahi could seek asylum because of the violence in Iran, Ralls added. A policy in place since the mid-1990s requires that asylum seekers file paperwork within a year of their arrival in the U.S.

“His case presents some challenges,” Ralls said. “It is a high bar to meet but it is not an impossible one.”

Abdollahi, who came to the U.S. when he was 3 with his family, said he was aware of the risk he was taking when he refused to leave McCain’s office. But he thought it was critical to be part of civil disobedience to pressure lawmakers to pass the DREAM Act — federal legislation that would create citizenship for undocumented youths and give them higher education access — even if it means he could get deported to Iran.

“It’s a worry,” said Abdollahi, 24. “But if we can get the DREAM Act passed it would help so many lives, it would be worth it. I have seen too many friends get deported.”

Abdollahi’s father came to the U.S. on a student visa 21 years ago, and the family lost their legal status when Abdollahi was 8 or 9 years old, he said. He graduated from Huron High School, and went to Washtenaw Community College.

In 2007, he sought to transfer to Eastern Michigan University to train to be a social worker. A counselor gave him an acceptance letter, and five minutes later took it back after they became aware of his citizenship status, he said.

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By Anthony Faiola

Source: The Washington Post

April 2, 2010

Since protesters took to the streets following the Iranian presidential election, dissidents are escaping the country, human rights groups say, fleeing to Europe and neighboring Turkey. Among those experiencing pressure from the Iranian government are student groups, journalists, human rights activists, artists and gays.

Click here to see photo gallery

As Hassan walked — well, more like sashayed — through the market in this southern Turkish city, the population on the sidewalk — elderly women in dark veils, men behind stalls selling Turkish pears five to a bag, children in woolly striped sweaters — all gawked.

“Yes, look! Look all you want,” Hassan said with a flourish, opening his arms in a benevolent gesture, as if their stares were rooted in adulation and not curiosity bordering on disgust. A portly, middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes and curled her lip at him.

“What?” said the 34-year-old Iranian refugee. “Is this the first time she’s seen a man wearing makeup? Maybe she should take notes. She could use a few beauty tips.”

Behind him, Farzan giggled. The slight 25-year-old sporting a shoulder sack that would be labeled a purse even in the male-bag capitals of Tokyo and Paris offered up a quick tale in his feminine lilt. “The other day I was buying some eggs, and the man would not even take the money from my hand,” he recounted. “He looked at me and said, ‘Put the money on the table,’ and spat on the floor. He gave me no change.”

“You should have thrown the eggs in his face,” lectured Hassan, anger flashing in his eyes, their color hazel by the grace of contact lenses. “We’re out of Iran now, and you will not take that kind of treatment anymore. Not in Turkey, not anywhere. You stand up for yourself. One life being less than human was enough.”

Applied for asylum

Freedom is relative. But for Hassan, mother hen to a gaggle of gay Iranians fleeing a nation where their sexuality is punishable by death, relatively secular Turkey is one step closer to a life less shackled.

He is one of more than 300 gays who have fled Iran since the rise of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who infamously proclaimed in 2007, to guffaws from his audience at Columbia University, that there were no gays in Iran. Most have crossed the border into Turkey, joining 2,000 Iranian refugees — largely political dissidents and religious outcasts — facing waits of two to three years as the United Nations processes their applications for asylum. Those who agreed to be interviewed asked that their last names be withheld for fear of reprisals against their families.
Turkey grants the refugees sanctuary just until the United Nations can find them homes in the United States, Canada, Western Europe or Australia. To avoid a critical mass in any one Turkish city, the refugees are dispersed to two dozen locations. The list does not include more progressive Istanbul, gem of the Bosporus, but rather, smaller metropolises such as Isparta that remain influenced by Islam in the same way Christianity influences the Bible Belt.

In Turkey, where the party that won the national elections in 2002 has sought to foster better ties with Tehranthe movements of the refugees are strictly limited. They can engage in no political activity, cannot work and must check in at police stations at least twice a week.

Human rights groups say the number of gays taking flight has jumped in recent months as some came out of the shadows for a fleeting moment around the time of the tainted elections last June. They attempted to join in the anti-government campaigns that have sparked a brutal crackdown against dissidents by the Iranian government. It marked the first time, gay activists say, that a reviled underclass in Iran poked its face to the surface. It stayed there just long enough to get slapped.

“The bravery that has come out of the gay community in Iran since the elections has been inspiring, but the government has not taken it lightly,” said Saghi Ghahraman, an Iranian exile who helps operate a Canadian-based organization providing guidance to gays trying to escape Iran. “They have come down harshly and violently. They’ve made it more difficult than ever to be gay in Iran.”

Driven underground

On the outskirts of Isparta, a southern Turkish city, the door opened to the living room of a recently rented basement apartment. Taymuoury emerged in one of the covering gowns of conservative Islamic women. He repeatedly bowed, praising Allah with fast-rolling trills off his tongue. Then, comically, salaciously, he opened his garment to reveal a blood-red bra, grabbing his stuffed chest to bursts of laughter from the gay Iranians in the room.

Muslim drag.

For Farzan, as with the 10 other gay Iranians assigned to Isparta as they await passage to cities where they have connections — San Francisco, Sydney, Paris, London — such moments of humor are a release from grim lives. On any given afternoon, they’ll put on an impromptu drag show, donning, for instance, belly dancer outfits made from cheap tablecloths. They slather on cosmetics brought from Iran by the one true transgender person among them. That cross-dresser — 26-year-old Farhad, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Isfahan” — spirited over the border with a trunk of women’s clothes and 200 shades of lipstick.

Most of the men say they have been subject to gay bashing in Isparta; one neighbor tossed a rock through the window of the squalid apartment where Hassan lives with five other gay Iranians. Turks shout out gay epithets when the Iranians venture outdoors. Hassan said he was punched and kicked by a shopkeeper and his son, then urinated on.

Yet almost all refuse to hide their more effeminate affectations, finding it hard to believe that in the West such behavior is considered extreme in gay culture. Their half-drag styles — men’s clothing mixed with finely groomed eyebrows, man-jewelry and rouged cheeks — became what Hassan describes as a form of civil disobedience in Iran.

“Every time I went into the streets with shaved eyebrows in Tehran, I felt it as a small victory,” said Hassan, a former hotel clerk who speaks fluent English. “If we could get away with it in Iran — well, almost — then there’s no way we’re going to butch it up in Turkey.”

They now spend as little time as possible outdoors, their lives in some ways more secret here than in Iran, a nation harboring a complex relationship with homosexuality.

Sex between two men in Iran is punishable by death after the first offense; sex between two women carries a penalty of 100 lashes, with the death penalty applicable on the fourth violation. Two gay teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, were famously hanged in the city of Mashhad in 2005. Yet for those with severe gender disorders, the government actually offers financial assistance for sex-change operations — the idea being, apparently, that if they change sexes, their desires would no longer violate religious law.
Still, the refugees describe a certain don’t-ask, don’t-tell policy in everyday Iranian life. At his front-desk job at the Simorgh Hotel in north Tehran, Hassan wore light foundation to work, openly telling his boss and co-workers about his sexuality. A few teased him. ” ‘Hey, lady,’ they would sometimes call when they needed me,” Hassan said. But for the most part, he said, he was accepted.

He and others were part of an underground scene at cafes, parks and private homes. In Tehran, where Hassan and Farzan lived until last year, dozens of gay men would gather on Thursdays at Laleh Park. Some would wear makeup and sport silver rings, a telltale sign of their sexuality.

After Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, however, the campaign against gays intensified, according to international gay organizations. In Isfahan, authorities raided gay parties, with photos circulating on the Internet showing revelers badly bruised following their arrests. Three refugees said they were raped in prison. Both Hassan and Farzan said they received 10 to 25 lashes on repeated occasions.

The pressure, the men here say, led them to hang their hopes on the June elections last year. A change in leadership, they believed, might help restore a greater degree of tolerance.

Last April, Farzan was among those who joined a budding gay rights movement. He and hundreds of other gays in Iran linked up using social networking sites, posting political messages supporting Ahmadinejad’s opponents. They spread the word about rallies being organized by anti-government dissidents and student groups.

When those groups took to the streets to protest Ahmadinejad’s claim of victory a month later, Farzan connected with gay men and lesbians via cellphones and the Internet to join in. During the protests in Tehran, some identified themselves as gay by wearing thumb rings, or toting small rainbow flags, a symbol of the gay movement in the West.

“For a moment, it felt so powerful,” Farzan said through an interpreter. “We were marching in the streets. There were not that many of us — maybe 150 in a crowd of thousands. But we were gay, and we were together, and we were calling for freedom.”

Gay refugees in other cities, such as Shiraz, said student groups welcomed their participation. But after several days of protests in Tehran, Farzan said, gays were being discouraged from returning to the streets. “They did not want us to stain the reputation of the anti-government movement by joining in,” he said.

Ultimately, Farzan said, their brief movement was broken up not by the demonstrators, but by the government crackdown in response to the protests. Gays were targeted, with dozens arrested. Several cafes where gays would gather were shut down. Worse, he and others here said, the government began tracing the profiles on gay social networking sites, informing their families and employers of their “crimes against religion.”

In November, Farzan was expelled from his dental school in Tehran. He went home to his family in a town in Iran’s north only to find out they had also received a call from security agents. His parents kicked him out.

He contacted Hassan, his friend who had fled to Turkey months earlier. As Hassan has done with a number of gay refugees, he offered to help put Farzan in contact with U.N. officials, and secure housing for him in Isparta as he waited — like the rest of them — for asylum. In late December, Farzan boarded a bus to the Turkish border with his life savings of $800.
“I have no idea how I’m going to make it here for two or three years on that,” Farzan said. “But I keep telling myself that this is for the best, and I’ll find a way. I once thought things could change in Iran, but now I know they won’t. I did the only thing I could — I got out.”

More »

By Anthony Faiola

Source: The Washington Post Foreign Service

February 15, 2010

Photo gallery

KAYSERI, TURKEY — After an hours-long interrogation, Iranian intelligence agents trailed Aida Saadat to the dimly lit streets of her neighborhood in Tehran, she recalled. Yelling out her name, they came at her with batons, then left her lying on the sidewalk bloodied and bruised.

“They called it a warning and said they’d be back,” said Saadat, a women’s rights activist and key figure in the political protests that have rocked Iran for months.

That night, she packed a small bag and joined hundreds of other dissidents who human rights groups say are escaping Iran in numbers not seen in years. She crossed freezing rivers and traversed arid plains with the aid of a hired smuggler, she said, ducking patrols on her way to neighboring Turkey.

Her departure in November added to a small but growing exodus of the crusading journalists, human rights activists, academics and artists who have long ranked among Iran’s chief agents of change. They range from high-profile cases, such as dissident journalist Hasan Sarbakhshian and filmmaker Narges Kalhor, the daughter of a top adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the lesser-known members a nascent movement of gays and lesbians struggling for tolerance in a nation where homosexuality is punishable by death.

Some observers say their departure could set back the democratic movement in Iran, where Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection last summer sparked protests and a crackdown on dissidents.

Saadat, for instance, for years openly fought against laws that institutionalize women as second-class citizens. In the election’s aftermath, she tapped into an underground network of women’s rights activists. She secretly fed details of street demonstrations to foreign news outlets and organized the mothers of slain student protesters for silent vigils in Tehran’s Lelah Park.

Now she is holed up in an unheated apartment in central Turkey, a nation that has forged closer ties with Iran in recent years and officially forbids refugees from engaging in political activity — a rule many have nevertheless ignored.

“You have high achievers in the political fight coming out of Iran, where their influence is going to be much less than if they were still there,” said Drewery Dyke, an Iran specialist with Amnesty International.

Some refugees in Turkey say they have received threatening phone calls from Iranian agents. One refugee said last month that operatives stole her cellphone, which was packed with contact information for dissidents in Tehran.

Yet Dyke and other rights activists said the dissidents’ relative freedom in exile offers them a better perch for their fight than would the inside of an Iranian jail. They are now helping fuel an international network of exiles who send blocked international news reports and details of upcoming protests to allies back home. They also document abuses, including allegations of torture and rape at the hands of security forces, with human rights groups abroad.

“You now have people working together to say bring back the promise of a more transparent, open society that was lost when Ahmadinejad came to power,” said Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

He later continued: “You even have gays and lesbians, presented as criminals by the government, becoming more active — forming networks, disseminating information. That’s how change can happen.”

Increased repression

Clutching his cellphone, his main link to the country he fled to escape arrest late last year, Hamid Safari walked past storefronts in the southern Turkish city of Isparta. Alternately playing back downloaded images of Iranian street protests and songs by Madonna and Beyoncé, he ignored the curious stares of passing Turks. His long, flowing hair and well-groomed eyebrows are telltale signs of gay men in Iran.

“I try to blend in,” said Safari, 25. “But there is only so much I can do to avoid notice.”

One of 1,356 Iranian refugees who have fled into Turkey since June, Safari is seeking asylum overseas. Some have paid smugglers $1,500 or more to spirit them out of Iran; others risk arrest and deportation by attempting to cross directly into Western Europe. Still others, like Safari, arrive at the Turkish border and hope for the best — Turkey is one of the few nations not to require an entry visa for Iranian citizens.

Since Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, oppression of gays has intensified, according to human rights groups. Many gay refugees here, including several who have been lashed by authorities for their sexuality, said they never labored under the illusion that Ahmadinejad’s rivals would support their cause. But they saw a change in leadership as part of a longer-term solution.

They began to organize just before the June election. Using gay social networking Web sites popular in the West for finding sexual partners — such as ManJam — Safari and others here said they arranged political meetings at cafes and parks. At least 60 people, he said, turned out for a gathering at a monument in his home town of Shiraz.

After the election, at least twice as many joined the ensuing protests in Shiraz, identifying themselves as gay by wearing silver rings on their thumb. The gay refugees said other protesters shunned them in some cities, such as Tehran. But student groups in Shiraz, Safari said, welcomed gay protesters as allies and encouraged them to become more deeply involved.

Safari said they did just that — burning and handing out CDs with photos of government violence, uploading images of demonstrations to the Internet and posting anti-government writings to blogs.

They paid a price. At protests, police set the long hair of gay demonstrators on fire and smashed them in the groin with batons. The café where Safari and other gays had informally gathered in Shiraz was closed.

Agents traced their profiles on gay Web sites, refugees said, arresting some men and women and informing the employers and parents of others of their “sexual deviance.” Several here say they were fired or kicked out of their homes, leaving them no choice but to escape.

“Ahmadinejad once said at the United Nations that there were no gays in Iran,” Safari said. “I think he’s now trying to make that come true.”

Diverse dissidents

In an apartment in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, a dozen recently arrived Iranian refugees gathered around a meal of fried fish and rice, placed traditionally on a cloth on the floor. Although they live in different parts of the city, the dissidents regularly get together to share meals, music and news from Iran.

Their varied backgrounds underscored the diversity of the anti-government movement. In one corner sat Afshin Darvaresh, 31, a visual artist, who said security forces ransacked his studios in Tehran in June after they found anti-government fliers hidden in his files. He chatted with Hasan Vaziri, 31, a labor leader at a chemical plant in Shiraz, who helped mobilize workers for the protests. Opposite them, Saadat, the woman’s rights activist, sat cross-legged on the floor.

“We all left because we had no choice,” she said. “None of us want to be here.”

Turkey does not accept non-European refugees for permanent resettlement, and processing for asylum in the West could take two years or longer. Most will probably go to the United States or Canada, a smaller number to Western Europe and Australia. Until then, they are burning through savings to cover housing, food and a refugee tax. Turkey does not allow them to work.

Many, like Saadat, have remained politically active from exile. She is preparing reports documenting the arrests of 30 Iranian women’s rights advocates for an opposition Web site.

“Do not underestimate the will of those fighting for freedom and social justice in Iran,” she said. “It will not be that easy to defeat us.”