US appeals court blocks order for Ugandan lesbian's deportation

The Associated PressPublished: March 21, 2007



MINNEAPOLIS: A federal appeals court has blocked the deportation of a Ugandan woman who was seeking asylum because she was persecuted in her homeland for being a lesbian, sending her case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further proceedings.



A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the BIA misapplied the law and overstepped its authority in the case of Olivia Nabulwala, who sought asylum after the U.S. government tried to deport her for overstaying her visitor's visa.



According to Nabulwala, while she was in Uganda her father became very angry and an aunt physically abused her when she came out to her family while she was in high school. She said she needed hospitalization overnight after a mob attacked a meeting of a lesbian rights group she belonged to while she was attending university in Uganda, and on another occasion two relatives arranged for her to be raped by a stranger. She came to the U.S. in 2001.



Courts have established that homosexuals can qualify for asylum because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution, the 8th Circuit panel noted.



But the immigration judge in Bloomington who handled Nabulwala's case, Joseph Dierkes, denied her application, even though he found her story "generally credible" and said he did not doubt she suffered in Uganda because of her orientation.



On the Net:



8th Circuit's decision: http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/07/03/054128P.pdf

Campaigners fear for lesbian facing deportation





Eric Allison

Monday November 13, 2006

Guardian Unlimited





Faridah Kenyini



A young lesbian who fled Uganda after her Muslim father threatened to kill her is being deported back home tonight, despite facing persecution and a jail sentence of up to seven years because of her sexuality. Faridah Kenyini, 20, arrived in Britain in 2004, aged 17. At an earlier asylum hearing, the judge questioned her sexuality, implying that she was too young to be aware of her sexual orientation. Since moving to Newcastle, at the behest of social services, Ms Kenyini has been in a settled relationship with Sarah Garanette, 25, a security officer and British citizen.

Kizza Musinguzi

Tel: 07927588416
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www.gayrightsuganda.org



This is a petition to the Home office minister and Secretary of state, to reconsider Kizza’s case and grant him permission to remain in the United Kingdom. I am a Ugandan gay rights activist who was jailed by the Ugandan government for my gay rights work and subjected to four months of torture from May to September 2004. A Government minister in Uganda has even gone as far as writing in a national newspaper, that I “will be crushed” if I returned to Uganda Uganda observer May 11th 2006. The Home Office wants to deport me on the grounds that this abuse does not constitute persecution.As a gay man I have managed to get a strong social network. Through attending church and going to workshops. I Plan to go to university to study electrical engineering.



Despite not getting any support from the government I have managed to survive through the support of friends and supporters I have also managed to survive through my own strong will and determination. I want to continue my university education and become an Electrical engineer. Please support me and help me get my life back. I have continued my gay rights work in England www.gayrightsuganda.org

If you would like to read the facts of my case please read on

Returning me to Uganda would put my life at risk.



We the undersigned, call upon the secretary of state and the home office minister to reconsider Kizza’s case and grant him permission to stay in England



Check this out on the link below;


http://www.gayrightsuganda.org/petition2.htm

These things can only be delt with through tradition, and Uganda has nothing of that kind. This is a tribal issue, no one is going to respect or heed any laws or whatever is set by the government as it is now, and the thing is going to grow and grow and keep growing. Other practically traditionless countries like the UK and the USA are out here to condemn and offer support, especially as long as the new converts stay back home.

Ekisinga okukwewunyisa nti ffe abaddugavu oba Abaganda kanneme kulandagga tulina obulombolombo obwaffe naye teri wonna munsi yabeeru gyewali owulidde nti buubuno babukoppye babukozesa, bbo banaffe bwebajja mu Africa ebyaffe byebalaba nge byasitaani okubiyisizaamu ddala amaaso . Kati kankikinare mbuuze lwaaki bo balowooza nti obulombolombo bwaabwe obusingirayo ddala okuba obwekigwenyufu bwetulina ffe okukkiriza? era tubukolereko nga ne mu Bible mwenyini mwekiri nti kikolwa kyabuwuttufu.Tukooye abeeru okutunyigirizaako ebiyisa byaabwe ebibi singa babyesigaliza naffe tusigaze ezaffe.