Call for Action: An Iranian Gay Couple in India Need Your Support

For more information please contact IRQO at info@irqo.net.

Subject: India, Call for Action: An Iranian gay couple in India need your support

Call for Action: An Iranian gay couple in India need your support

(July 17, 08)

http://www.irqo.net/IRQO/English/pages/147.htm

Dear Friends:

We are contacting you to request your assistance on a very urgent case
involving 2 gay Iranians, Ali and Mohammad.

It is no secret that queer Iranians who flee to other countries continue to
face risks due to homophobia and laws calling for punishment of homosexuals.
This often results in depression and post traumatic stress symptoms.

Ali and Mohammad, a gay Iranian couple, fled to India.  Although they have
each been officially recognized as refugees by United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi has still
not acted to facilitate their resettlement in Canada. It has been one whole
year since the Canadian Embassy began processing their cases!

In India, Ali and Mohammad are illegal queer refugees. They have no
authorization to work.  Furthermore, they are at risk because India's penal
code includes punishment for homosexual activity.

The common complications that queer refugees experience are escalated for them
because Mohammad's mental health is deteriorating.  He has been counseled by a
UNHCR psychiatrist for 7 months and continues to suffer.  Immediate attention
by the Canadian Embassy is critical!

Please show your support by writing to the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi,
India to urge them to expedite the processes for Ali and Mohammad.  There are
2 ways you can help:

1. You may copy and paste the sample letter in English into an email and send
it to the Embassy;   OR

2. You may write your own letter in support of Ali and Mohammad.

Please send to Canadian Embassy at delhi@international.gc.ca , and also CC to
UNHCR at indne@unhcr.org as well as IRQO at info@irqo.net for tracking
purposes.

You may also fax letters to the Canadian Embassy at:  +91 (11) 5178-2020 or
call them at: +91 (11) 5178-2000 ATTN: Canadian High Commission.

If you choose to fax your letter, please email a copy to info@irqo.net.

Thank you for your support.


Ali and Mohammad's Story

We are and Ali and Mohammad, an Iranian gay couple.  We fled Iran and came to
India, but we are facing difficult circumstances here and need assistance!

We are both refugees recognized by UNHCR in New Delhi, India. Mohammad was
recognized as a refugee in August, 2006, and I, Ali, was recognized as a
refugee too, in March, 2007.

UNHCR submitted our case as "urgent" and "high priority" for resettlement to
the Canadian embassy in New Delhi.  The Canadian embassy started processing on
our application on May 17, 2007, and we completed interviews with the Canadian
embassy on July 19, 2007.  We even received our health checkups in the same
week. However, we are still waiting for our process to be complete so that we
can resettle in a safer country.

Under Indian Penal Code No. 377, sexual activity between men is officially a
crime and is punishable with imprisonment for up to 10 years.  Homosexuality
is forbidden by both the Indian government as well as by Indian society.

In addition to dealing with homophobia and anti-LGBT laws, we lack visas and
are not able to work. We are without income and we also face many problems
because of our sexual orientation.

Due to this complicated situation, Mohammad's mental health is disturbed and
he has been on medication prescribed by UNHCR's psychiatrist for over 7
months. Even Mohammad's doctor sent a letter to UNHCR and to the Canadian
embassy to describe his condition and asked them to speed up his process so he
can leave India as soon as possible.

Mohammad's health is in danger and he cannot handle this condition any longer.
It is so important that he reach a safe country very quickly.

We need your assistance and help to leave India as soon as possible.

We are waiting for your help.

Thanking you,

Ali and Mohammad


Sample Letter to the Canadian Embassy

To: delhi@international.gc.ca
CC1: indne@unhcr.org
CC2: info@irqo.net

Re:  File Number B051747780

To the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi:

This letter particularly concerns the cases of Mohammad and Ali with file
number B051747780. Mohammad and Ali were recognized by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2006 and 2007, respectively.  UNHCR
forwarded their case to you for quick processing, noting that this case should
be treated as high priority.  Mohammad and Ali completed interviews and health
checkups in July, 2007.  A whole year has passed and they are still waiting
for your Embassy to complete their processes.

You must be aware of the perils that queer refugees in particular face in
India.  The Indian penal code calls for punishment of homosexuals and the
Indian society is homophobic.  Because of this, refugees like Mohammad and Ali
deal with escalated risks.  Confronting these risks often leads to mental
health problems and symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.  It is
essential that such individuals resettle in a country deemed safe and
appropriate for homosexuals, such as Canada, as quickly as possible.

We, as supporters of queer Iranians, urge that you expedite Mohammad and Ali's
case, because they are suffering in New Delhi and Mohammad's mental health is
especially deteriorating.  He has been medicated by a UNHCR psychiatrist for
seven months.  We are concerned about their emotional states in India, and
urge you to bring them relief from their unhealthy situation.

We realize you have many resettlement cases to work on.  However, due to the
exigent circumstances especially facing queer refugees, we urge you to assist
Mohammad and Ali, and help them resettle in Canada promptly.

Your timely, informed and sensitive treatment of this case will be much
appreciated.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Iran Makes the Sciences A Part of Its Revolution

Burton Richter, right, an American Nobel laureate in physics who spoke at Sharif University in Tehran, called the students there "very impressive." (By Newsha Tavakolian -- Polaris)

Full article from the Washington Post - June 6, 2008

Iran's Arrest of Bahai's Condemned

From CNN - May 16, 2008

(CNN) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were seized and imprisoned this week, the religious group said. The act prompted condemnation and concern from the movement and a top American religious freedom panel.

A U.S. panel says attacks on Iran's Baha'is have increased since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president.

Iranian intelligence agents searched the homes of the six on Wednesday and then whisked them away, according to the Baha'i's World News Service. The report said the six are in Evin prison and that the arrests follow the detention in March of another Baha'i leader.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and the incident has not been mentioned in Iran's state-run media.

"Their only crime is their practice of the Baha'i faith," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i international community to the United Nations.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement Friday "strongly" condeming the arrests, which it said were "a clear violation of the Iranian regime's international commitments and obligations to respect international religious freedom norms.

"We urge the authorities to release all Baha'is currently in detention and cease their ongoing harassment of the Iranian Baha'i community," the U.S. statement said.

The group -- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- says the arrests are reminiscent of roundups and killings of Baha'is that took place in Iran two decades ago.

"Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha'i governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals," Dugal said.

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large," she added.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a government panel that advises the president and Congress -- condemned the Wednesday arrests, as well as another in March. The commission chairman called the acts the "latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating status of religious freedom and other human rights in Iran."

The commission said the seven were members of an informal Baha'i group that tended to the needs of the community after the Iranian government banned all formal Baha'i activity in 1983.

The commission chairman, Michael Cromartie, echoed the fears that the "development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha'is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed."

The Baha'is are regarded as "apostates" in Iran and have been persecuted there for years.

"Since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, thousands have been arrested and imprisoned, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs," the commission said.

The commission said that since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power a few years ago, Baha'is "have been harassed, physically attacked, arrested, and imprisoned."

"During the past year, young Baha'i schoolchildren in primary and secondary schools increasingly have been attacked, vilified, pressured to convert to Islam, and in some cases, expelled on account of their religion."

The commission said other groups in the predominantly Shiite Muslim country of Iran, such Sufis and Christians, are subject to intimidation and harassment. Ahmadinejad's inflammatory statements about Israel have "created a climate of fear" among the country's Jews.

The Baha'is say they have 5 million members across the globe, and about 300,000 in Iran.

The Baha'is say their faith "is the youngest of the world's independent religions" and that its basic theme is that "humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society."

They say their founder, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), is regarded by Baha'is as "the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad."

Urgent Action Appeal - Arrest of Iranian Women's Rights Activist

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09308.pdf

10 April 2008

UA 93/08   Arbitrary arrest/ Prisoner of conscience

IRAN        Khadijeh Moghaddam (f), women's rights defender

Women's rights defender Khadijeh Moghaddam was arrested by
security officials on 8 April at her home in Tehran. She has
been accused of "spreading of propaganda against the state;
disruption of public opinion; and actions against national
security" and is held in Vozara detention center in Tehran.
Amnesty International believes she is a prisoner of
conscience, held solely on account of her peaceful
activities in support of equal rights for women in Iran.

Khadijeh Moghaddam is an active member of the Campaign for
Equality, which aims to collect one million signatures of
Iranians for a petition demanding an end to legal
discrimination against women in Iran. She was arrested at
her home at 11am when security officials forced their way
into her house. She was shown the warrant for her arrest
only after a lengthy argument. Khadijeh Moghaddam was taken
to a base belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards known as
Eshrat Abad, Tehran (also known as Prison 59), where she was
interrogated for several hours about her involvement with
the Campaign for Equality, before being brought before an
investigative judge of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The
judge also interrogated her, charged her and set her bail at
an amount approximately equivalent to US$ 112,000.

Khadijeh Moghaddam's family and friends spoke with her while
she waited to be transferred to the Vozara detention center.
She told them that she was arrested for hosting meetings of
the Campaign for Equality in her home and that the
investigative judge had asked her to identify seven or eight
members of the Campaign who had participated in these
gatherings. Later Khadijeh Moghaddam told the judge that she
was unable to pay the bail. According to a statement issued
by Campaign for Equality activists, the judge said that
Khadijeh Moghaddam would be imprisoned for a week before
being brought back before the Court for questioning, when
she would have another opportunity to provide the names of
the Campaign members and the bail amount. When she was asked
to make a statement in her defense, Khadijeh Moghaddam
stated: "...my way of life is my defense."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Dozens of activists and supporters have been arrested in
connection with their activities for the Campaign for
Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition
aiming to end legal discrimination against women in Iran. As
of January 2008, the Campaign's website had been blocked by
the authorities at least seven times (see:
http://www.change4equality.com). Official permission to hold
public meetings has frequently been denied, and Campaign
activists usually hold their workshops in the homes of
sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening
phone calls apparently from security officials or been
summoned by them for interrogation. At least one such
workshop was forcibly broken up by police, who arrested
those present, beating some.

Two women, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, remain detained
in the city of Sanandaj, Kordestan province (see UA 297/07,
MDE 13/130/2007, 7 November 2007) because of their
affiliation to the Campaign for Equality.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- expressing concern at the arrest of Khadijeh Moghaddam in
connection with her peaceful activities in support of equal
rights for women in Iran;
- urging the authorities to release her immediately and
unconditionally since she is a prisoner of conscience;
- asking the authorities to ensure that while in detention
she is granted immediate and regular access to her family
and lawyer of her choice and that she is protected from any
form of torture or ill-treatment.

APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email:        info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
(In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence
Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Salutation: Your Excellency

Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email:          info@leader.ir
Salutation:   Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax:             011 98 21 6 649 5880
Email:          via website: http://www.president.ir/email/

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax:             011 98 21 5 537 8827
(please keep trying)

Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone:          202 965 4990
Fax:              202 965 1073
Email:           requests@daftar.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
May 2008.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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