Action: AI on Iran

In May 2007, two men were tried and convicted of abduction, rape and theft. They were sentenced to being “thrown at a height” or “cliff” (partab az bolandi) by a judge in Shiraz, Fars province, southern Iran. Four other men, allegedly also involved in the crimes, were ordered to endure 100 lashes each. Both of these punishments have not yet been carried out by the Iranian authorities.

On 2 January 2008, Qods, a national daily newspaper in Iran, reported that the sentences of the two men had been confirmed by the Supreme Court, and sent for implementation, and that four other men had been convicted by Branch 2 of the Fars Criminal Court to 100 lashes each, in connection with the same case. The six men were accused of having abducted two young men in the city of Arsanjan, to the east of Shiraz, whom they harassed and whose property they stole before allegedly raping them.

At a press conference on 15 January, Ali Reza Jamshidi, the Spokesman for the Judiciary in Iran, confirmed that the sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court, but that they had not yet been carried out. His statement appeared to contradict the Qods article, as it suggested that the Head of the Judiciary may not yet have given final approval for the executions. All death sentences in Iran must be approved by the Head of the Judiciary before they can be carried out. He has the power to suspend the execution.

Iran’s Penal Code states in Article 109 that both men involved in same-sex penetrative (anal) or non-penetrative sex will be punished. Article 110 states that those convicted of engaging in anal sex will be executed and that the manner of execution is at the discretion of the judge. Article 111 states that both will be executed “provided both the active and passive parties are mature, sane and consenting”. There is no separate legislation dealing with rape. Article 14 of the Directive on Implementation Regulations for Sentences of Retribution in kind, Stoning, Murder, Crucifixion, Death Penalty and Flogging states that death may be carried out by hanging, firing squad, electrocution or another method determined by the judge issuing the verdict. If no other method is specified, the method will be hanging. The sentence passed in this case is exceptional in its apparent intent to inflict suffering.

The sentence was condemned by the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, a Tehran-based human rights NGO whose members include Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.

In 2007, at least 312 people, including child offenders, were executed in Iran, although the true figure may be considerably higher. Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences but is unconditionally opposed to the use of the death penalty and opposes the use of flogging and other judicial corporal punishments which constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

Take Action Here

Action: Cameroon Action from Headquarters

Urgent Action: Call for Release of 11 Men and Decriminalization of Homosexuality in Cameroon

January 2008

Eleven men were arrested and detained in Cameroon between 19^th July and 1^st September 2007 because they were suspected of engaging in acts of homosexuality. Sexual relations between two people of the same sex are illegal in Cameroon. The 11 men were arrested in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé where they remain in custody. Amnesty International considers the detainees to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely on account of their presumed sexual orientation, and is calling for their immediate and unconditional release as well as for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon. The continued detention of the men on this basis contravenes the rights to freedom from discrimination, privacy and freedom of assembly and association, as guaranteed by the international and regional human rights treaties to which Cameroon is a party.

Between 19 and 21 July 2007, police arrested six men at various public places in the city of Douala accusing them of engaging in acts of homosexuality. The arrests followed a woman’s allegations of theft and alleged homosexual acts against her two juvenile cousins. The two were arrested, questioned and later released. After their interrogation by the police, three other men were also arrested on suspicion of having engaged in acts of homosexuality. An additional three men were also arrested for the same reasons.

On 25 July 2007, the 6 men were transferred to Douala’s central prison. In addition to charges of homosexuality men were also accused of committing “sodomy” and “corrupting youth” in violation of the provisions of sections 344, 346 and 347 of the Cameroonian Penal code. One of the detainees was also accused of committing an indecent assault with a 16-year-old boy.

On 16 August 2007, two men were arrested in Yaoundé. According to sources, it was close to 4 am when the police broke down the door of the room where the men were sleeping. The policemen asked them to remove their clothes before telling them they were being arrested because they had been caught having sex. Their case was transferred to the Attorney General on 20 August 2007. According to their lawyer, the men were subjected to anal examinations to determine if they had engaged in sexual acts.

On 30 August 2007, at around 5:45 AM, three men were arrested by a police patrol in Douala. The men were found fighting over a TV set and a DVD player. According to the police report one of the accused had solicited sex from the other two men in exchange of 25,000CFA (equivalent of US$ 50) and a fight began after a dispute over the payment. The three men were charged with same-sex sexual relations by the Attorney General at the Douala Public Prosecutor’s Department. They appeared at Douala 1st Instance Tribunal on 7 November 2007, on 2 January and on 8 January 2008 and pleaded not guilty. On 9 January 2008, the Tribunal convicted and sentenced the three men to 6 months imprisonment with hard labor and fines ranging from US $54 to US $100.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals in French, English or your own language:

• expressing concern for the eleven detainees on trial in the capital, Yaoundé, on charges of practising homosexuality;
• stating that Amnesty International believes that they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their alleged sexual orientation;
• asking the authorities to order an immediate halt to the trial of these detainees on charges based on their suspected or known sexual orientation;
• urging the authorities to release the detainees immediately and unconditionally and to respect their right to freedom of association in accordance with international human rights treaties, such as the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and under the African Convention for Human and People’s Rights, to which Cameroon is a party;
• calling on the authorities to ensure that the detainees are not subjected to anal examinations or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
• calling on the authorities to ensure that the detainees are allowed access to their families, lawyers and any medical attention they may require.

ADDRESS APPEALS TO:

Minister of Justice

Mr Amadou Ali

Deputy Prime Minister

Minister of Justice

Yaoundé

Cameroon

Salutation: Dear vice-Prime Minister/ Monsieur

le Vice-Premier Ministre

WITH COPIES TO :

Minister of Interior

Mr Marafa Hamidou Yaya

Minister of Territorial Administration Decentralization

Ministry of Territorial Administration Decentralization

Yaoundé

Cameroon

Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

Director of Kondengi prison

Monsieur le Directeur

Prison Centrale de Kondengui,

BP 100, Yaoundé- Province Centrale.

Cameroon

…and to diplomatic representatives of Cameroon in your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your Amnesty International section office, if sending appeals after 31 March 2008.

News: Time.Com reporting France Overruled on Gay Adoption

By Bruce Crumley

The European Court of Human Rights overturned French court rulings that
prevented a single lesbian woman from adopting a child; the move opens the
way for legal challenges in other European states, but does not oblige all
countries to allow gay adoption.

Thursday 01.24.08
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1706514,00.html


Social and political conservatives have tended to be more cautious European
enthusiasts than their leftist peers. This week provided another example
why that’s the case. In a decision setting precedence not just across the
27-nation European Union, but indeed throughout the entire 47-member
Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights overturned French
court rulings that prevented a single lesbian woman from adopting a child.
The move, gay and lesbian groups say opens the way for legal challenges in
other European states with adoption laws similar to those of France — yet
falls well short of a blanket ruling that would oblige all countries to
allow adoption by homosexuals.


In a 10-7 vote, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Strasbourg
Tuesday that a plaintiff identified only as Emmanuelle B. had been the
victim of illegal discrimination when successive French authorities denied
her request to adopt a child in 1998. The court faulted French criticism
over “the lack of a paternal referent in the household”, and elsewhere said
the woman’s homosexuality had been “if not explicit, at least implicit” in
France’s rejection of her adoption request. The Court judged France had
violated the European Convention on Human Rights — to which France and the
other 46 Council of Europe members are signatories — based on its refusal
to allow a single lesbian adopt in a manner it allows straight singles to.


“French law allowed single parents to adopt a child, thereby opening up the
possibility for adoption by a single homosexual,” the judgment found. In
addition to opening the way for the 45 year-old nursery school teacher, who
has lived with her female partner for nearly 20 years, to see through her
desire to adopt, the Court also ordered France to pay Emmanuelle B. $14,600
in damages, and $21,210 in legal costs.


Gay rights organizations in France and across Europe hailed the ruling for
taking on one of the main kinds of discrimination homosexuals continue to
face. Some conservatives, however, were as equally outspoken in the
condemnation of the decision. Michèle Tabarot, a parliamentarian for the
ruling conservative Movement for a Popular Majority Party and the president
of France’s Superior Council on Adoption, reacted with charges “the judges
are over-stepping their role by going beyond what the law says, and by
imposing their conception” of justice. Tabarot also noted that if French
rules allowing singles to adopt children as a means of increasing the
number of potential homes for orphans, they weren’t intended to alter
official French views on gay parenting. “In France the parliament never
sought to open adoption to homosexuals,” she noted.


Indeed, Tuesday’s ruling, in many ways, represents a back door to equal
treatment starkly contrasting the more traditional attitudes and laws
prevalent in most of Europe. Franck Tanguy, spokesman for France’s
Association of Gay and Lesbian Parents, confirms “this ruling is a step in
the right direction”, in that it “requires countries that, like France,
allow singles to adopt children to treat unmarried homosexual and
heterosexual applicants in exactly the same manner.” Failure to do so in
any country with such legislation, Tanguy says, means they’d “find
themselves condemned again and again for discrimination by the many single
homosexuals who’d use this precedent to base a legal defense on”. However,
Tanguy regrets the ruling “won’t change anything in countries that don’t
allow any singles to adopt, nor force nations that don’t allow homosexual
couples to adopt to change their laws”.


There are currently nine European countries that permit gay and lesbian
couples to adopt children: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Iceland,
Norway, the Netherlands, the U.K., and Sweden. Though a boon for single
homosexuals seeking to adopt children where unwed heterosexuals are allowed
to do so, Tanguy says Tuesday’s ruling may cause countries considering
allowing adoption by non-married straight couples to shelve such plans in
order to maintain the prohibition for gays and lesbians.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

For more information about The United Nations visit www.un.org