gay man seeks asylum in uk

December 2, 2004: The campaign around the case of Ramzi Isalam hots up as UK activist group, OutRage! adopt his cause and go public with their demands.

"A gay Algerian refugee is at risk of deportation back to his home country, where there is a serious danger he would be murdered by Islamic fundamentalists." Say UK gay rights group OutRage!.

"I fled Algeria because the Islamists beat me and threatened to kill me," said Isalam, the Algerian man they are backing. "Being deported back to Algeria would be a nightmare. It is a very dangerous place for lesbians and gay men. People like me get killed. I could not cope with always looking over my shoulder, fearful of being murdered because of my sexuality," he added.

Gay rights group OutRage! is backing Isalam's claim for refuge in the UK. It has written to the Home Secretary, David Blunkett (see copy below), urging that refugee status be granted to Isalam (not his real name, as he fears the persecution of his family in Algeria).

Two of Isalam's gay friends were murdered by the Islamic fundamentalists of the GIA (Group Islamique Arme) in 1994 and 1996. He grew up in a district that was a stronghold of the GIA, where gay people live in fear of beatings, torture and murder.

Islam witnessed the stoning of two gay men in the street in 2001.

In 2002, he was found having sex with a man and reported to the GIA who sent members to his house. Isalam was beaten and threatened with death. At around the same time he was due to be called up for military service, and feared that he would suffer the same fate as many other gay conscripts: rape, torture and beatings.

Because Islam avoided military service, his return to Algeria would result in two years imprisonment in a military prison, where brutality is universal and gay inmates suffer routine queer-bashings and sexual assaults.

In February 2003 he fled to Britain and claimed asylum. Later that year, his application was refused by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.

He is now making a renewed application for asylum on the grounds that he fears persecution, and possible murder, if he returns to Algeria.

"Algeria is a very repressive, homophobic Islamic state," said Brett Lock of the gay rights group OutRage!, which is backing Isalam's asylum claim.

"The armed insurrection and terrorist campaign by Islamic fundamentalists poses an extreme danger to every lesbian and gay Algerian. Gay people are targeted for assassination and extra-judicial killing. The Algerian state offers no protection and, in fact, criminalises homosexuality with imprisonment.

"Homosexual prisoners are routinely beaten and raped with impunity, both by other prisoners and by prison guards," he added.

Ramzi Isalam is one of 3 Algerians currently seeking asylum in the UK on the grounds of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.

OutRage!'s letter to the Home Secretary
September 27, 2004

Isalam's Claim for Asylum in the UK

I am writing on behalf of the gay and lesbian human rights group OutRage! to support the asylum claim of Algerian refugee, Isalam.

We know from the personal testimonies we have received from Algerian exiles and refugees, over many years, that Algeria is not a safe place for lesbians and gay men.

The Algerian state is notoriously repressive towards its homosexual citizens. The arrest and torture of gays, by the police and the armed forces, is commonplace. The victims have no legal redress.

This persecution is compounded by the rise of an armed fundamentalist movement, backed Islamist vigilantes. They pose a particularly grave threat to the security of gay and bisexual Algerians, who are routinely targeted for beatings, torture, disappearances and often extra-judicial execution.

Islamic extremists in Algeria assassinated the feminist leader, Nabila Diahnine. Previously they had killed the theatre director, Abdelkader Alloula. These are just two of the tens of thousands who have been murdered by Algerian fundamentalists over the last 15 years.

Other victims include gay couples who violate the strict Islamic taboo against same-sex love, students and academics who refuse to study within a religious framework, and journalists who write the truth uncensored by clerical fanatics.

Islamist vigilantes in Algeria have also targeted women who fail to confirm to the Muslim tradition of subservience and modesty. Wives risk death if they go out to work, instead of staying at home and waiting on their husbands. Other women are being killed for studying at university, wearing make-up or short skirts, and attending mixed schools or swimming pools. Any female behaviour deemed 'scandalous' by
the militants can have lethal consequences, as 16-year-old Katia Bengana discovered. She was shot dead on her way home from school for refusing to wear a veil.

The common goal that unites Islamic fundamentalists in Algeria is the establishment of a religious state where every aspect of life is determined by the principles of the Koran and Muslim tradition.

This means the creation of a state where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death.

In the current climate of state repression and Islamic fundamentalist vigilantism and armed insurrection, we do not believe it is safe for Isalam to return to Algeria. We urge you to show mercy and compassion by granting him asylum in the UK.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Tatchell
OutRage!