New Rules - New Hopes

After the reports of the particular hardships faced by the LGBT applicants for asylum in the United States have surfaced in the media (NY Times asylum), and while the situation with the LGBT rights and freedoms continues to deteriorate in many parts of the world, the Obama administration has issued new rules, which, hopefully, will make the perilous journey of the persecuted LGBT persons towards safety in the United States a little easier.

The new guidance contains specific definitions and sensitive issues to be addressed by the asylum officers during interviews, as well as certain questions that should be avoided, especially those pertaining to specific sexual practices of the gay and lesbian applicants. These new instructions are set in place to alleviate the additional trauma and stress that some of the applicants may go through in the process of obtaining asylum. The officers are also advised to keep in mind that applicants from certain conservative cultures may find it hard to describe the circumstances relating to their private lives as well as easily adjust to the notion of “coming out” even in a new gay friendly environment.

The USCIS memo further instructs the immigration officials to refrain from stereotypical notions of “gay manners” or “gay looks”. Again, this issue is addressed because LGBT persons from different cultures may not necessarily fit the public stereotypes of the gay community in the West. One of the most important aspects of this memorandum is a new list of possible one-year filing exceptions — the issue that often presents a particularly rigid problem to the applicants who have been present in the U.S. for more than one year — including, but not limited to a recent coming out; recent changes in gender identity; a recent HIV diagnosis; certain psychological diagnoses, e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or new instances of threats or hostility from the applicant's family to his or her sexual or gender identity.

Another aspect which remains crucial to the applicant's ability to explain the delay in filing of his or her application for asylum is the change of the situation for the LGBT persons in their country of origin (for example, the adoption of new laws targeting the LGBT community, as was recently done in Russia: “No love from Russia — if you're gay”, or the upsurge in societal violence against gays and lesbians, as was a recent case in Iraq: emo killings of gays in Iraq raise fears). In other words, even if you have resided in the U.S. for more than one year, but now have a real fear of persecution in your homeland because of your gender or sexual identity, you may still be eligible for asylum in the United States.

The issuance of these regulations follows an announcement by Obama's White House that the United States will order all of its government agencies to promote LGBT rights around the world (Presidential Memorandum International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Persons). It is indeed a noble and highly symbolic statement, which, hopefully, will help to bring justice, freedom, and peace to the innocent persons from all over the world who suffer daily because of their sexual or gender identity.

Source: USCIS: “Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugee and Asylum Claims”, December 28, 2011. International Lesbian and Gay Association, ilga.org. NY Times.

By Ivan Savvine, Senior Paralegal @ The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

The List of Pain and Shame: State-Sponsored Homophobia Around The World

At least 86 member states of the United Nations still criminalize consensual same sex acts among adults. Among those, 7 have legal provisions with death penalty as punishment. If you identify yourself as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual, and if you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, you may be eligible for asylum in the United States. As an applicant for asylum, you will need to explain your fear of prosecution and persecution in your homeland on account of your sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

These are truly ghastly and shocking statistics — shocking because this list includes some of the most popular vacation destinations often visited by Western tourists, gay and straight alike. So keep this information in mind when booking your next vacation to Jamaica, Morocco, Maldives, or Saint Lucia!

Afghanistan: as of 1976, two males or two females engaged in homosexual activity may be sentenced to long imprisonment or death, as prescribed by the Penal Code and the Islamic Sharia law.

Algeria: Article 338 of the Penal Code: “Anyone guilty of a homosexual act (either male or female) is punishable with imprisonment of between 2 months and 2 years, and with a fine of 500 to 2000 Algerian Dinars.”

Angola: both male and female homosexuals, if caught in an intimate situation, will be sentenced to hard labor in a prison camp (length of sentence unspecified).

Antigua & Barbuda: consensual homosexual activity is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Bahrain: sexual acts between men are punishable by a maximum prison term of 10 years.

Bangladesh: an “Unnatural Offence”, i.e., sexual intercourse between two men, is punishable by a prison sentence of 10 years to life, and a fine.

Barbados: both male and female homosexuals may be imprisoned for life if convicted of being involved in a sexual relationship.

Belize: “Unnatural Crime” of sexual intercourse between two persons of the same sex, either male or female, is punishable by a 10-year prison term.

Benin: Article 88: “Anyone who commits an indecent act or an act against nature with an individual of the same sex will be punished with 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of 100 000 to 500 000 francs.”

Bhutan: consensual homosexual relations are regarded as “petty misdemeanor” and carry a minimum punishment of 1 month in prison.

Botswana: gays and lesbians may be imprisoned for up to 7 years for “Unnatural Offence” of being involved in homosexual activity.

Brunei: homosexual men may be imprisoned for up to 10 years and also fined.

Burkina Faso: Article 411: “Any act of sexual nature that is contrary to good morals and is committed directly and deliberately on another person with or without force, compulsion or surprise, shall constitute an offence against public decency.”

Cameroon: both male and female homosexuals may be punished with a term of imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of between 50 000 and 1 000 000 francs.

Comoros: same as Cameroon.

Cook Islands (New Zealand associate): homosexual men may be sent to prison for up to 14 years; this law applies to Cook Islands only and has no standing in New Zealand.

Costa Rica: those practicing “sodomy” may be subjects to fines (amount unspecified).

Democratic Republic of Congo: 3 months to 5 years imprisonment and a fine for both gay men and women.

Djibouti: same-sex intercourse is simply illegal. The punishment is not specified.

Dominica: 5 to 10 years imprisonment or compulsory psychiatric treatment.

Egypt: homosexual acts in private are not illegal as such; however, certain laws have been used to persecute gay men, such as “Contempt for Religion” and “Shameless Public Acts”.

Eritrea: “Unnatural Carnal Offences”, such as sexual acts between two persons of the same sex are punished with imprisonment (length unspecified).

Ethiopia: Article 629: “Whoever performs with another person of the same sex a homosexual act, or any other indecent act, is punishable with simple imprisonment.”

Gambia: imprisonment for up to 14 years for both men and women.

Gaza (Part of Palestinian Authority): sexual acts between men are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Ghana: male homosexuality is punished by prison terms between 5 and 25 years.

Grenada: 10 years in prison for male homosexuals

Guinea: 6 months to 3 years in prison for both gays and lesbians and a fine of 100 000 to 1 000 000 Guinean francs.

Guinea-Bissau: both male and female homosexuals may be sent to labor camps for an unspecified amount of time if caught in an intimate situation.

Guyana: persons convicted of “buggery” may be sentenced for life in prison.

Indonesia: certain provinces were allowed to adopt the Sharia Law, which carries death penalty for homosexual relations.

Iran: death penalty for homosexual acts. The executions are public and have been widely exposed in the Western media.

Iraq: the Penal Code does not prohibit sexual activities between consenting adults of the same sex. However, since the US-led invasion, the local militias have been involved in mass killings of LGBT persons without any interference from the government.

Jamaica: male homosexuality is punished by up to 10 years of hard labor and imprisonment.

Kenya: up to 7 years in prison for male homosexuals.

Kiribati: 14 years imprisonment for homosexual men.

Kuwait: Article 193: “Consensual intercourse between men of full age (from the age of 21) shall be punishable with a term of imprisonment of up to 7 years.”

Lebanon: both male and female homosexuals may be imprisoned from 1 month to 1 year and fined between 200 000 and 1 000 000 Lebanese pounds.

Lesotho: male “sodomy” is prohibited as a common-law offense.

Liberia: both male and female homosexuality is classified as a first degree misdemeanor.

Libya: both male and female homosexuality was prosecuted under the Gaddafi regime; the current state of laws in Libya is unclear, but it is likely that homosexuality will be prosecuted under the new government as well.

Malawi: this country has one of the cruelest punishments for male homosexual activities: up to 14 years in prison, corporal punishment, and possibility of death penalty.

Malaysia: up to 20 years in prison for homosexual men and public whipping.

Maldives: male homosexuals may be facing banishment from 9 months to 1 year or a whipping of 10 to 30 strokes, while lesbian women may be subjected to house arrest for the same amount of time.

Mauritania: homosexual men face death penalty by public stoning.

Mauritius: up to 5 years in prison for male homosexuals.

Morocco: 6 months to 3 years imprisonment for both male and female homosexuals and a fine of 120 to 1000 dirhams.

Mozambique: both male and female homosexuals are facing terms in labor camps (length unspecified)

Myanmar/Burma: gay men may be imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Namibia: consensual sex between men is prohibited as a common law offense. The punishment is unspecified.

Nauru: homosexual men are facing prison terms of up to 14 years of hard labor.

Nepal: 1 year of imprisonment for both men and women, or a fine of 5000 rupees.

Nigeria: consensual sex between men is a felony punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

Oman: 6 months to 3 years of jail time for both gays and lesbians.

Pakistan: male homosexuality is punished by 2 to 10 years of prison time.

Palau: Article 2803: “Sodomy on either males or females — up to 10 years imprisonment.”

Panama: 3 months to 1 year imprisonment for both gays and lesbians or a fine between 50 and 500 USD.

Papua New Guinea: men involved in homosexual activity are facing imprisonment for up to 14 years.

Qatar: homosexual men and women may be prosecuted according to Articles 281 and 284 of the Penal Code which prescribe imprisonment for up to 7 years.

Saint Kitts and Nevis: gay men are facing up to 10 years imprisonment, with or without hard labor.

Saint Lucia: up to 10 years imprisonment on this island paradise for both men and women involved in homosexual acts.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: same as Saint Lucia.

Sao Tome and Principe: both men and women of homosexual orientation may be sent to labor camps for unspecified amount of time.

Saudi Arabia: most of the Muslim world has an atrocious record when it comes to LGBT rights, but the Saudi kingdom truly stands out among them for their savagery. If a married man is convicted of sodomy, he is to be stoned to death. An unmarried man will receive 100 blows by a whip and be banished for 1 year. If a non-Muslim commits sodomy with a Muslim, he, too, shall be stoned to death.

Senegal: homosexuals in Senegal, both male and female, may be sent to prison for 1 to 5 years. If one of the persons in question is under 21, his or her partner may be sentenced to capital punishment.

Seychelles: consensual sexual relations between men are categorized as felony in Seychelles which carries a jail term of 14 years.

Sierra Leone: two men caught having sex in Sierra Leon may be facing a life in prison.

Singapore: male homosexuality is penalized with up to 10 years in jail.

Solomon Islands: various prison terms and fines may be applied to both gay and lesbian persons.

Somalia: in this impoverished war-torn Muslim nation, homosexual persons convicted of “carnal intercourse” will be facing prison terms of 3 months to 3 years.

Sri Lanka: up to 10 years in prison on the island of Sri Lanka, both for men and women involved in “voluntary carnal intercourse”.

Sudan: this Muslim nation has one of the poorest human rights records on the planet, and the LGBT people get their share of persecution and abuse. Men convicted of sodomy are punished with flogging (100 lashes) and up to 5 years in prison. If a person is convicted of sodomy for the third time, he will be executed or given a life sentence.

Swaziland: sodomy between men is prohibited in Swaziland as a common law offense. The government is currently implementing new laws which would prohibit any sexual acts between persons of the same sex (men or women) with a punishment of 2 years in prison and a hefty fine.

Syria: Article 520 of the Penal Code states: “Any unnatural sexual intercourse shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of up to 3 years.”

Tanzania: consensual sexual activities between men are punished by imprisonment of no less than 30 years and up to a life sentence.

Togo: 3 years in prison and a fine of 100 000 to 500 000 await gay and lesbian individuals in this West African nation.

Tokelau (New Zealand associate): various prison terms up to 10 years can be applied to homosexual men.

Tonga: the Penal Code equated sodomy with bestiality and prescribes punishment for up to 10 years in prison.

Trinidad and Tobago: gay men may be sentenced for up to 25 years in prison, while lesbian women can be jailed for 10 for the first offense of having sex, and 15 years for a repeated offense.

Tunisia: although the Arab Spring uprising has swept off the authoritarian rule in Tunisia, its sodomy laws remain in place. Article 230 of the Penal Code provides for a punishment of 3 years in prison for individuals convicted of this crime.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: homosexual activities between men are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Turkmenistan: while most of the former Soviet republics have repealed the laws targeting homosexual individuals, Turkmenistan continues to punish consensual sex between men with up to 2 years in jail. Our office has successfully represented several LGBT applicants for asylum from Turkmenistan.

Tuvalu: men who have sex with men in Tuvalu are facing prison terms for up to 14 years.

Uganda: this African nation has a particularly dreadful record when it comes to LGBT rights. Currently, the homosexual activities are punished with life imprisonment, but for the past few years the Ugandan lawmakers have been trying to implement death penalty as an ultimate punishment for homosexual individuals. The Western media has reported extensively on this appalling development, as well as the wide-spread violence against LGBT persons in Uganda.

United Arab Emirates: even though the city of Dubai is now one of the world's financial and cultural centers, this Muslim nation continues to prosecute homosexual activities between men with death penalty.

Uzbekistan: this former Soviet republic continues to punish male homosexuals with up to three years in prison. This homophobic statute is often used by the Uzbek police force to intimidate, abuse, and blackmail gay men, as well as their friends and families. Our office has successfully represented several LGBT applicants for asylum from this Central Asian nation.

Western Samoa: various jail terms can be given to men convicted of having consensual sexual relationship.

Yemen: this Muslim nation follows Saudi Arabia in its policies targeting the LGBT community: unmarried men convicted of homosexual contacts are punished with 100 lashes of the whip and a maximum of 1 year imprisonment; a married man convicted of the same offense shall be stoned to death. Lesbian women in Yemen are facing jail terms for up to 3 years for being intimate with each other.

Zambia: 7 years in jail for consensual sexual acts between men.

Zimbabwe: male homosexuality can be punished by various prison terms and/or fines.

This is indeed a dreadful and appalling list. Some of these laws are the inheritance of the colonial era, while others are enacted in the name of some religious ideals. Whatever their origin may be, today they exist to mistreat and torture (or even kill) innocent people who happen to be attracted to the persons of their sex. Let us hope that one day such laws will be history; a shameful and painful part of the world's history. In the meantime, however, if you or someone you know may become a victim of these vicious provisions, you should definitely seek help to preserve your rights to freedom, health, and life.

Source: State-Sponsored Homophobia: A World Survey of Laws Prohibiting Same Sex Activity Between Consenting Adults, by Daniel Otton for ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association), ilga.org

-by Ivan Savvine, Senior Paralegal @ The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

No Love From Russia - If You're Gay

On March 7, 2011, the governor of Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and (once) its most civilized, Westernized, and tolerant metropolis, signed into law the bill against “propaganda of pedophilia, homosexuality, lesbianism, and transgednerism to minors.”  When introduced to the Saint Petersburg legislative assembly in the fall of 2011, this infamous bill has caused international uproar among LGBT activists and human rights defenders. Several international petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures were delivered to the Petersburg’s law makers, asking them to abandon the draconian measure which was to restrict the freedom of expression for the city’s already embattled LGBT community, as well as further deprive gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents of Saint Petersburg of their human dignity by equating their life styles to those of criminal sexual offenders such as pedophiles. The majority of the law makers, most of them members of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, ignored these pleas, and adopted the law which was cheered by the officials of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and, even more frighteningly, by some of the federal officials, who suggested that such a measure could also be implemented on a national level.

Saint Petersburg is not the first city in Russia to enact such a homophobic legislature. Several major cities, such as Ryazan, Arkhangelsk, and Kostroma, have preceded Saint Petersburg in restricting their LGBT residents’ rights to freedom of speech, expression, and assembly. On several occasions, gay activists have been violently dispersed and arrested in these cities for their attempts to campaign against these harrying measures. While these regions of the Russian Federation have always been rather conservative and intolerant of minorities, the world was truly shocked when an analogous bill was introduced, approved, and signed into law in Saint Petersburg, Russia’s “cultural” capital and a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world. This distressing development effectively signified that the attacks on the LGBT rights in Russia were intrepidly expanding onto a national scale.

The years since the collapse of the Soviet Union were a time of hopes and bitter disillusionment for the Russian gays and lesbians. In 1993, the infamous article 121 of the Soviet Penal Code which criminalized consensual intimacy between adult males was finally repealed. The nascent gay scenes have sprung in large cities, and a number of NGOs addressing the problems of the LGBT community were established. It seemed that finally the LGBT citizens of the Russian Federation were visible and free of state-sponsored persecution.

These hopes, however, were essentially crushed in the past decade. The Russian government has closely allied itself with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been particularly vocal in denouncing LGBT persons as sinners and abominations, going as far as suggesting that gays and lesbians were extremists who were in the business of undermining the very basic foundations of the Russian society and culture. Several high-profile Russian politicians, including the former mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, have publicly vilified the LGBT community as “agents of Satan” and sexual deviants deserving compulsory medical treatment. As Vladimir Putin’s Russia has been rapidly deteriorating into an essentially authoritarian state, the supporters of the LGBT community have also been labeled by the authorities and state-controlled media alike as “agents of the liberal West” who were out there to hinder Russia’s way to regain the international super-power status.

Naturally, such vile and defamatory statements have further fueled the homophobic sentiments of the common Russian citizens. As indicated in numerous reports compiled by such human rights organizations as the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Russian LGBT Network, the Human Rights Watch, and the Amnesty International, LGBT people living in Russia today face daily threats of violence and intimidation, while the discrimination in work place, housing, and even access to health care is practically ubiquitous. Instead of protecting its citizens, the present Russian government has adopted a policy of either silently ignoring their problems altogether, or, as is the case in point here, of encouraging the societal hatred and intolerance of the sexual minorities.

Since Russia has opened its borders in 1991, numerous LGBT individuals chose to flee from the daily abuse and mistreatment they have suffered there at the hands of the authorities – especially the police – and common citizens alike. Many of those have asked for asylum in the countries of Western Europe and the United States. Our office has represented numerous LGBT individuals from the countries of the former USSR, and particularly from Russia, in their petitions for asylum before the United States immigration authorities. In the context of the current developments described above, it is safe to assume that even more gay, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons will be looking to escape the homophobic persecution and intolerance presently reigning in the Russian Federation to seek shelter in the societies that can provide them with safety and guarantees of their most basic human rights and freedoms.

-        By Ivan Savvine, Senior Paralegal @ The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com