Report from 1st international LGBT asylum conference

By Joël Le Déroff | via LGBT Asylum News The University of Greenwich and a group of LGBT organisation working on asylum-related issues organised, on 5, 6 and 7 July 2010, one of the first international conferences dedicated to the rights of LGBTI asylum seekers. The title chosen by the organisers (“a case of double jeopardy”) refers to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people in the asylum system: they are fleeing persecution in their country of origin, but also facing discrimination and a low level of sensitiveness to their special needs in the countries where they are seeking safety. An illustration of this double...

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Posted in: Report

Report on The Maldives Islands

9 Session of the Universal Periodic Review – November 2010 This report is submitted by: The Maldives Women Coalition - MWC 1 and The Sexual Rights Initiative 2 . This report deals with sexual rights in Maldives and makes references specifically to the situation of young men and women and cultural norms/beliefs about gender/sexuality that lead to human rights violations, including discrimination, domestic and sexual violence, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT). A. Background 1. The Maldives islands have been populated as early as historical records are available.Estimates based on archaeology...

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Posted in: Report

Gays can seek asylum in UK

LONDON - HOMOSEXUALS who cannot live an open life in their own countries without fear of persecution should be entitled to asylum in Britain, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. The court, the final arena for appeal in the British legal system, said a previous appeal should not have denied refugee protection to two applicants from Cameroon and Iran and said the cases should be reconsidered.Both men, who were not named to protect their identity, had been beaten in their own countries but were refused asylum because British authorities felt each man was able to relocate at home and behave with discretion to avoid victimisation. Iran punishes...

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Posted in: Politics / Religion,Society

Letter to Amnesty International

via Minivan News The DirectorAmnesty International Dear Sir/Madam:On 24 June 2010 I was arrested by Raa Atoll Ungoofaaru Police Station where I was charged with “attempted suicide by overdozing on less than a gram of hash oil, atheism and homosexuality.” However, quite strangely, only a vague reference to “drug abuse” appeared on the Court Order for my arrest. While the officers of the Maldives Police Service at Male’ Custodial were very kind to me – understandably, due to my parents refusing to allow my transfer to house arrest due to the gravity of the charges – I feel vulnerable against corrupt elements, the remnants of former President Gayoom’s dictatorship, rampant in the Maldives Judiciary and other law enforcement agencies. I also feel defenceless against extremists of all sorts and...

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Posted in: Letters

Maldives atheist who felt persecuted 'hangs himself'

By Charles Haviland | 15 July 2010 | via BBC News It is compulsory for citizens of the Maldives to be Sunni Muslims A man in the Indian Ocean island state of the Maldives has died, apparently by suicide, after complaining of being victimised for not being a Muslim. Ismail Mohamed Didi, 25, had admitted being an atheist and had sought political asylum abroad. He was found on Tuesday hanging at his workplace - the air traffic control tower at the international airport in the capital, Male. It is compulsory for citizens of the Maldives to be Sunni Muslims. Despite the rigidity of its religious laws, the Maldives was recently elected to...

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Posted in: News

2009 Human Rights Report: Maldives

BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR 2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices March 11, 2010 The Republic of Maldives is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 390,000. In August 2008 parliament ratified a new constitution that provided for the first multiparty presidential elections. In October 2008 Mohamed Nasheed became the country's first directly elected president in relatively free and fair elections. The constitution establishes a bill of rights and mandates a strict separation of powers among all the branches of government. On May 9, the country held its first multiparty parliamentary elections....

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Posted in: Report