Britain Halts Deportation Move Against Gay Iranian Teenager Could Face
Execution at Home
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, March 14, 2008;
Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic republic. Fearing for his life,
Kazemi sought asylum in Britain, but his claim was rejected.
LONDON, March 13 -- Britain halted deportation proceedings Thursday against
a gay Iranian teenager who has said he would likely be hanged because of his
sexual orientation if he is returned to Iran.
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, moved to Britain in 2005 to study and has said he then
learned that his boyfriend in Iran had been hanged after being convicted of
sodomy. Homosexuality is a severe crime under Iranian law, and Kazemi's case
has drawn concern from gay rights groups around the world.
An initial appeal for asylum was turned down here. But Home Secretary Jacqui
Smith, Britain's top law enforcement figure, said Thursday that "in light of
new circumstances" Kazemi's appeal would be reconsidered, handing him a
temporary reprieve that his supporters hope will ultimately lead to him being
granted the right to stay in Britain.
When the government first rejected his appeal, Kazemi fled to the
Netherlands, where lawmakers took up his cause. He remains there but is
expected to return to Britain within days. A Dutch court this week refused to
grant Kazemi asylum on the grounds that he had initiated proceedings in Britain
and needed to return there to continue them.
In recent years, the British government has been under enormous public
pressure to reduce the number of refugees and asylum seekers that it admits.
Critics say too many foreigners abuse the system.
Kazemi has said he did not arrive in Britain with the intention of staying,
but then found out that Iranian officials would be looking for him if he
returned.
Gay rights leaders in Britain said that Kazemi's former partner was tortured
into naming Kazemi before he was killed and that Kazemi has been suicidal over
the whole ordeal. An uncle who lives in Britain was also quoted in a British
newspaper as saying that if authorities didn't kill Kazemi , his father in Iran
would.
Eighty members of Britain's upper house of Parliament signed a letter sent to
Smith urging the government to "show compassion and allow Mr. Kazemi to have a
safe haven in the United Kingdom."
"There is no doubt that he will be persecuted and possibly face
state-sanctioned murder if he is forced to return," said Roger Roberts, a
member of the House of Lords from the Liberal Democratic Party, who initiated
the petition.
"It's cruel to even suggest sending him back," said David Allison, a
spokesman for Outrage!, a gay rights group in Britain. "The history of gays in
Iran has been horrific."
Human rights advocates have long deplored the treatment, including
executions, of gay men in Iran. Last year while in New York City, Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was asked about executions of homosexuals in his
country, and he replied: "We don't have homosexuals like in your country. I
don't know who told you that."
Britain granted a gay Iranian teenager a reprieve on Thursday from
deportation to Iran, where he says he could be hanged for his homosexuality.
Interior Minister Jacqui Smith said in a statement that "in the light of new
circumstances" 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi's appeal for asylum in Britain should
be reconsidered.
"This is very positive. But reconsidered doesn't mean he'll get a permit,
they could still deny what he is asking," Kazemi's Dutch lawyer, Borg Palm,
told Reuters by telephone.
Kazemi came to Britain to study in 2005, lawyers have said. He later learned
that his lover in Iran had been hanged after being charged and convicted of
sodomy. Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic republic.
Fearing for his life, Kazemi sought asylum in Britain, but his claim was
rejected.
Senior British lawmakers urged Smith earlier on Thursday to show mercy and
grant Kazemi asylum in Britain, where his uncle has lived for 30 years.
"We are deeply concerned at the possible execution of Mehdi Kazemi if he is
refused asylum in the UK and is deported to Iran," read a letter to Smith
signed by 63 members of the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber
of parliament.
Kazemi fled to the Netherlands and sought asylum there, but a Dutch court
this week turned down his application, saying as he had applied in Britain he
must return there to pursue his case.
He is due to be deported from the Netherlands back to Britain within days,
Britain's Independent newspaper said on Thursday.
Human rights groups and gay rights advocates have rallied to Kazemi's cause,
highlighting the Iranian government's track record of executing homosexuals.
"If returned to Tehran, he will be at risk of imprisonment, torture and
execution," said Peter Tatchell, the founder of Outrage, a gay rights group.
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