The Freedom Files
columnist: RS Davis

Topic: Gay Rights
The Case of Mehdi Kazemi

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The life and death struggle of just being yourself in Iran.

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by RS Davis
(Libertarian)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

See those guys there? That's what happens to you when you are gay in Iran. That's also the situation nineteen-year old Mehdi Kazema was trying to avoid, following his paramour to the Iranian gallows. If you are a regular Freedom Files reader, you remember me writing about that young man back in March.

Of course, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells a different story, saying, "We don't have homosexuals, like in [America]. I don't know who told you that." Well, it certainly wasn't one of those two pictured above, I can tell you that much.

Under the Iranian interpretation of Sharia law, much like Christian law, any sex outside of marriage is considered a sin. Unlike Christian law, though, Sharia law does not differentiate between consensual and non-consensual acts. Also, of course, Christian law is a set of guidelines for moral living, but in a theocratic state like Iran, they are oppressive and violent restrictions on personal freedom.

This has been the case since the revolution of 1979, when Khomeni (left) took over Iran. Vali Nasr said this "made Islamic Fundamentalism a political force...from Morocco to Malysia." Since that time, it is estimated that, according to the BBC, "more than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed."

Just last year, Makwan Mouloudzadeh was put to death for "raping" three boys when he was thirteen-years old, even though every single witness against him recanted.

The year before, Kazemi's boyfriend was arrested for sodomy and hung. In the UK on a student visa, Mehdi immedeately applied for asylum. Unfortunately, it was refused by the Home Office.

Terrified, he next went to the Netherlands to apply for asylum there, but stupid EU bureaucratic red tapethat prevents one from applying for asylum in two different EU countries, called the Dublin Convention, put him on a fast track back to the UK, where he'd next be shipped back to his death in Iran. Sitting alone in a Rotterdam detention center, the future looked bleak for Mr Kazema.

But many people were outraged by these events, and over sixty peers signed a letter to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, asking her to reconsider:

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, has lost his claim for asylum in Britain, even though his family has told the Home Office that his life is in danger after his former boyfriend in Iran was arrested and hanged for sodomy. The case has now attracted worldwide attention and, last night, 63 members of the House of Lords signed a letter to Jacqui Smith calling on the Government to show compassion and to grant Mr Kazemi sanctuary in Britain.

Among those pressing the Government to help Mr Kazemi are Lord Woolf, the former lord chief justice; Betty Boothroyd, the former speaker of the House of Commons; and Shirley Williams, Julia Neuberger, Paddy Ashdown, David Steel, Lord Lester QC and the Bishop of Liverpool, as well as a number of senior Labour peers.

In the letter, the peers say: "We members of the House of Lords are deeply concerned at the possible execution of Mehdi Kazemi if he is refused asylum in the UK and is deported to Iran. His former partner has been executed there. We urge Her Majesty's Government to show compassion and allow Mr Kazemi to have a safe haven in the UK."

I even gave out her office phone number on the blog, urging anyone who cares about tolerance and justice to give her a call. She could save this young man's life with a simple pen stroke.

Finally, Jacqui Smith relented, offering him temporary asylum upon his return to the UK, with the hope that after an investigation, it would be made permanent. Ms Smith said, "Following representations made on behalf of Mehdi Kazemi [right], and in the light of new circumstances since the original decision was made, I have decided that Mr Kazemi's case should be reconsidered on his return to the UK from the Netherlands."

Obviously great news, and this is where The Freedom Files left the story in March. At long last, today the BBC reported that the UK Border Agency has rendered its final decison.

Mehdi Kazemi will live.

A Border Agency spokesman said that they consider eachcase"on its individual merits" and asserted they will "continue to provide refuge for those asylum seekers with a genuine need for protection."

"We keep cases under review where circumstances have changed and it has been decided that Mr Kazemi should be granted leave to remain in the UK based on the particular facts of this case."

Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, who was among Kazemi's most vocal supporters, was relieved, but summed up the simple truth of the situation - this should not have been a hard decision in the first place: "As I have argued over the last 18 months, the Home Office should not send gay and lesbian people back to countries where they will be at risk of persecution, torture or death."

Indeed.

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2008 RS Davis, all rights reserved.
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, May 21, 2008

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