Urgent Petition: Save Roodabeh and Ali, Iranian Homosexual Refugees
Roodabeh is a 30-year-old lesbian woman who left Iran in February 2008 to flee from the persecution that the regime of President Ahmadinejad reserves for homosexuals; persecution that foresees in many cases – according to a ruthless interpretation of Islamic law – prison sentences, torture and even death. Ali is a 29-year-old gay. He too was forced to leave Iran to escape the repression in January 2008. Once in Turkey, Roodabeh and Ali applied for asylum to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Ankara section) on the grounds of their sexual orientation.
EveryOne Group, Human Rights international organization, would point out that the right of asylum, as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 14) and finalized by the Geneva Convention, is one of the fundamental rights of human beings, and is recognised by civil countries to those fleeing from violence and persecution. Turkey signed the Geneva Convention and has saved many human lives by acknowledging their status as refugees and offering them humanitarian protection. However, Turkey’s present policies where the rights of refugees and asylum seekers are concerned, have recently become more restrictive. So much so that Amnesty International has recently brought to international attention the repeated violations of the Geneva Convention in the Republic of Turkey, as well as the episodes of abuse carried out by the police against refugees. Roodabeh and Ali live in fear of being repatriated as the Iranian authorities are aware of their flight and the reason they were forced to seek asylum. If they were to be deported, they would have little chance of being spared this persecution.
They live in a state of anguish (as well as discrimination, seeing they are both foreigners and homosexuals) knowing their lives are in danger. They survive only thanks to the commitment of individuals and human rights organizations, but their condition will deteriorate rapidly if their right to international protection is not urgently recognised.
This is why EveryOne Group, working alongside Iranian Queer Railroad (IRQR) and a network of human rights organizations, is promoting a campaign and appealing to the UN High Commission for Refugees to recognise their legitimate right to international protection and asylum.
EveryOne Group activists must point out that Roodabeh and Ali have been awaiting the decision of the High Commission for many months, without financial support, social assistance or programmes of insertion into the work force.
A petition has been submitted to ask international and Turkish authorities and institutions to grant immediate asylum status to the two Iranian homosexuals. You can sign it at http://www.gopetition.com/online/28514/sign.html
For further information:
EveryOne Group
http://www.everyonegroup.com :: info [at] everyonegroup.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/urgent-petiti…
A Rare Meeting with Nepal’s Openly Gay MP, Sunil Panth
He is tall, slender and handsome and could make for a model. Surprisingly he is a politician. Sunil Panth is an MP from Nepal, the country that has recently become a democratic country throwing the king’s rule.
In an event organized by the human rights organization Sangama in Chennai, Mr. Panth addressed the audience who were all sexual minorities and their supporters. It was a fascinating evening for both me and Rose, fellow Transgender activist and a TV person. For the first time we were able to meet and interact with lesbians, gays, transwomen and transmen all under one roof. It was a wonderful moment as the air was filled with the scents of flowers and musks. We were taken aback by the masculinity of the transmen whom we met at the doorsteps. They were cool and determined. Moreover, they really made us comfortable with their warm reception. There were exciting introductions, hugs, laughter, cordial ‘hellos’ and ‘how are you’s.
On the stage already was Mr. Sunil Panth. The 35 year old Belarus-educated computer engineer is the first openly gay MP from Asia. He founded the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) in 2002 in Nepal, with a network of 20 organisations, and has been its executive director ever since.
Just after his inspiring and informative speech about the status of LGBT people in Nepal and his concerns for Indian sexual minorities in India, in a private conversation with Mr. Panth, Rose and I shared our concerns about the situation in India. “Nepal has recognised the third gender as a separate gender. Passport and national identification card have third gender mentioned. Understanding that the LGBT community is a huge vote bank, political parties in Nepal include our needs in their manifestoes” he said.
Condemning the ruthless treatment meted out to transgender people in Bangaluru, he said that sexual minorities should be free and the society should accept them as they are. See A Rare Meeting with Nepal’s Openly Gay MP, Sunil Panth
Associated Content, CO -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/rare-meeting-…
