From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: IGLHRC: Urgent Action Alert
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:04:42 GMT

/** headlines: 574.0 **/
** Topic: IGLHRC:URGENT ACTION ALERT DECEMBE **
** Written  2:30 pm  Dec 14, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:headlines **
/* Written  9:52 pm  Dec 10, 1992 by jbinder in igc:queerplanet */
/* ---------- "IGLHRC:URGENT ACTION ALERT DECEMBE" ---------- */
URGENT ACTION ALERT DECEMBER 1992
from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
IGLHRC
540 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
phone: (415) 255 86 80
fax: (415) 255 86 62
email:iglhrc

Emergency Response Network (ERN)
IGLHRC has compiled human rights
abuses against gays and lesbians throughout the world and is
asking your help in addressing these urgent issues.  Please write
to the person listed at the end of each summary.  Please send a
copy of your response to us.

In this issue:

HIV+ HAITIAN Refugees
ISRAEL Bars People with HIV
INDIA: Human Rights Groups Condemn Section 377 and Police Excesses
VENEZUELA: Gov't Officials Defend HIV Discrimination 
COSTA RICA: Gay Students Denied Free Expression
NICARAGUA:  Sodomy Law Challenged
MEXICO:  Murders Still Unsolved, Letters to Mexican Congress Needed

URGENT
U.S. Gov't Violates Rights of HIV+ Haitian Refugees

Denied the right to seek asylum from persecution, forcibly coerced to undergo 
HIV antibody testing without informed consent, no notification of the results 
of their test - these are just a few of the abuses of human rights that Haitian 

refugees held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba have had to endure.  The 
United States Government is currently holding 240 Haitian asylum seekers and 38 
family dependents in quarantine at Guantanamo Bay.  Although each of the 
refugees has been judged to have a serious claim to 
political asylum, they are not being allowed to pursue their claims of asylum 
because they have tested positive for HIV.  Current U.S. immigration policy 
bans individuals who are HIV-positive. Although the policy allows for waivers 
in certain cases, the U.S. government refuses to process these Haitian 
cases.

Your letter is urgently needed to remedy this grievous violation of human 
rights, and to protest the U.S. immigration HIV exclusion policy.  Please 
address the following points:

o No public health interest is served by excluding asylum seekers with  
credible or well-founded fears of persecution solely on the basis of their HIV 
status, and such a policy stands in opposition to internationally accepted 
standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Program on 
AIDS.
o The U.S. immigration ban on HIV-positive individuals violates Article 14 of 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that "everyone has the 
right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution", and has 
been denounced by a number of human rights organizations including Amnesty 
International.
o According to WHO HIV policies, quarantine is unwarranted to prevent the 
spread of HIV infection, and as such erects unjustifiable and oppressive 
barriers to political asylum seekers and potentially inhibits the right to 
appropriate legal counsel and the right of appeal.
o Forcible coercion to undergo HIV antibody testing without informed consent, 
as well as the quarantine itself, violates Article 5 of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights which provides that "no one shall be subjected to 
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".

Demand that the Attorney General of the U.S. immediately allow the HIV-positive 
Haitians and their family members in Guantanamo to enter the U.S. and pursue 
their claims for political asylum.  Demand from President-elect Clinton that he 
direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to finalize 
the January 1991 proposed regulation removing HIV from the exclusion list under 
the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Postage from the U.S. is $.29 up to one 
ounce.

Write to:

Attorney General William Barr           
Department of Justice                   
10th & Constibution NW          
Room 4400
Washington, DC 20530
FAX:  202- 514-4371

President-elect Bill Clinton
c/o Vernon Jordan: Transition Chairman
Clinton-Gore Transition office
1120 Vermont Ave.  NW
Washington, DC 20005


NEW
Israel Bars People with HIV

Jews wishing to immigrate to Israel under the law of return -- which allows 
Jews worldwide to become Israeli citizens -- are to be tested for HIV and 
turned away if they test positive.

Under the new regulations immigrants already accepted in Israel who are found 
to have lied about their HIV status can be deported to their country of origin. 
 Visitors who want to stay more than three months would also be tested under 
the new regulations.  Finally, the policy calls for the deportation 
of foreign workers with HIV, and ten such workers have been deported already.

Israel's law of return is one of the cornerstones of the Jewish state because 
it promises citizenship and refuge to Jews from all over the world.  The new 
HIV restrictions come on the heels of a wave of xenophobia and hysteria in 
Israel about the rate of HIV infection among Ethiopian refugees.  The 
restrictive law was enacted despite a report by the Minister of Health showing 
a low rate of infection.

The ACT UP/Immigration Working Group and IGLHRC have formed a committee to 
protest the policy and work to overturn it.  You can join this effort by 
writing letters of protest to the Minister of Internal Affairs who is in favor 
of the new law, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (whose position on the issue is 
unknown), and by sending copies of your letters to the Ministers of Health and 
Absorption, who do not support the new law. 

Please point out that immigration restrictions based on HIV status are opposed 
by public health officials, civil rights organizations and AIDS activists 
because they not only impinge on the freedom of movement for people with HIV, 
but set bad public health policy by driving people underground and sending the 
erroneous message to the public that they are 
safe from HIV.  Instead, anonymous HIV testing and prevention/education 
campaigns are the proven method of containing the epidemic.  Postage to Israel 
from the U.S. is $.50 per half-ounce.


Write to:                               
Rabbi Arye Derri               
Minister of Interior           
2 Kaplan                         
Kiryat Ben Gurion              
Jerusalem  91061               
Israel                         
FAX:  (972-2) 701628            

The Hon. Shimon Peres
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hakirya Romena
Jerusalem  91950
Israel
FAX:  (972-2) 303367

Copies to:
The Hon. Haim Ramon              
Minister of Health               
PO Box 1176                     
Jerusalem 91010                  
Israel                           
                                 
The Hon. Yair Tsaban
Minister of Absorption
PO Box 13061
Jerusalem 91130
Israel
FAX: (972-2) 618138


NEW
INDIA: Human Rights Groups Condemn Section 377 and Police Excesses

A coalition of Asian lesbian and gay organizations has initiated a campaign to 
repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and to call attention to the 
harassment of gays and lesbians by the Indian police.

Enacted by the British Colonial authorities in 1861, Section 377 states:  
"whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with 
any man, woman, or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or 
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and 
shall be liable to a fine." This nineteenth century colonial lawviolates 
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees that no one can be 
deprived of his or her life or personal liberty. 

Since this law is still on the books, the police maintain the power to abridge 
the basic rights and freedoms of persons they arbitrarily judge to be engaged 
in "unnatural acts".  Section 377 is frequently used, along with public 
nuisance and obscenity laws, to harass, intimidate and extort money from gays 
and lesbians.  Several individuals have been imprisoned for sodomy and "sexual 
perversity".  In July of 1992, the New Delhi police entrapped and arrested 18 
men in a park which is frequented by gay men.  Many were released after paying 
a "fine", while some faced jail terms.

Please write letters to the Indian Prime Minister and to the Home Minister of 
India, protesting the systematic penalization of gays and lesbians. Urge them 
to repeal Section 377 (IPC) and to halt police harassment of gays and lesbians. 

Postage to India from the U.S. is $.50 per half-ounce.


Write to:

Prime Minister Mr. P.V. Narsimha Rao             
7 Racecourse Road                                
Prime Minister's House                            
New Delhi, INDIA                                 

Minister S.B. Chavan
Ministry of Home Affairs
North Block-1
New Delhi, INDIA


NEW
Venezuela: Gov't Officials Defend HIV Discrimination 

The Constitutional Court of Venezuela has prohibited the Compania Anonima 
Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV) from performing HIV tests on its 
employees without prior consent and from implementing its discriminatory 
policies against those individuals testing positive.  
Nevertheless several appointed government officials, including the Ministers of 
Labor, Sanitation, and Social Assistance, openly defended the discriminatory 
practices of CANTV.  In response to this, ACT-UP Americas has initiated a 
letter writing campaign directed towards Venezuelan president Carlos Andres 
Perez (who appointed these officials) demanding that he take 
responsibility for the opinions expressed by members of his administration and 
take corrective action.

Write to President Perez urging him to prevent members of his 
administration from condoning human rights abuses in Venezuela. Of equal 
concern is the absence of any concerted educational campaign for the prevention 
of transmission of the virus and the total lack of medical services for people 
with HIV/AIDS. Request that President Perez take immediate action to improve 
medical services for PWAs and to implement education/prevention campaigns.  
Postage to Venezuela from the U.S. is $.50 per half-ounce.


Please send your letter to: 

Mr. Carlos Andres Perez
Presidente Constitucional de la Republica de Venezuela
Palacio de Miraflores
Caracas, VENEZUELA

At the same time, a letter campaign is being waged in support of a petition 
presented to the Venezuelan Attorney General's office.  RESURREXIT, the 
non-governmental organization that aided in the successful court action against 
CANTV,  is requesting that the rights afforded the employees of CANTV be 
extended to the entire Venezuelan labor force.  Please send letters of support 
for their petition (#00982) to the following address:

Ramon Escobar Salon 
Fiscal General de la Republica
Edif. Luz Electrica, Ave. Urdaneta
Caracas, VENEZUELA


NEW
Costa Rica: Gay Students Denied Free Expression

A gay student group in Costa Rica has been censored by university authorities.  
The Colectivo Gay Universitario (Gay University Collective) at the University 
of Costa Rica in San Jose celebrated its first anniversary with a screening of 
the film "La Ley de Deseo" and a panel discussion.  The student 
group agreed not to have a speaker on the panel or to collect a percentage of 
the box office, but only to supply the video.  The university in turn agreed to 
furnish space and technical equipment and to list the student group as a 
co-sponsor on all publicity.

However, when newspaper announcements, ads and posters appeared, the gay 
group's co-sponsorship had been deleted, without prior notice.  The group 
protested the censorship at the film showing, and is taking its protest to the 
university official who made the decision.  They ask that you write and 
protest the censorship and  denial of free expression.  Postage to Costa Rica 
from the U.S. is $.50 per half-ounce.

Write to:

M.Sc. Ana Teresa Alvarez
Vicerrectora de Accion Social
Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio
San Pedro de Montes de Oca
San Jose, Costa Rica

Copies to:

Colectivo Gay Universitario        
Apdo. 601-2300                     
Curridabat                         
San Jose, Costa Rica                                         
                                   
Dr. Luis Garita B.,  Rector
Universidad de Costa Rica
Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio
San Pedro de Montes de Oca
San Jose, Costa Rica

URGENT UPDATE
Nicaragua:  Sodomy Law Challenged 

The new Nicaraguan penal code (including the anti-sodomy law- Article 204) was 
signed by President Chamorro in July and published in late October. Article 204 
mandates prison sentences of one to three years for anyone who "induces, 
promotes, propagandizes, or practices in a scandalous manner, the cohabitation 
of individuals of the same sex."  An additional prison term of two to four 
years is the penalty for the crime of "illegitimate seduction".   

A Managua coalition of individuals from gay/lesbian and women's groups, civil 
liberties lawyers and other human rights advocates (the Campaign for Sexuality 
without Prejudices) presented a challenge to the constitutionality of Art. 204 
to the Supreme Court on November 9th.   The coalition asks for 
international pressure to strengthen their chances for victory.  The government 
will try to convince the Supreme Court that Art. 204 will not apply "scandalous 
behavior" in a discriminatory manner, and that the law's intention is merely to 
protect children from the promotion of homosexuality 
as natural.  Please point out in your letter that the law not only violates the 
right to privacy, which is constitutionally guaranteed in Nicaragua (Art. 11), 
but also curtails the freedoms of assembly, expression, and speech by 
criminalizing anything construed as "promoting" homosexuality (this may 
include AIDS education, gay and lesbian organizations, and any portrayal or 
discussion of lesbian or gay relationships in books, newspapers, or on screen). 

Please inform the justices that there is absolutely no acceptable 
interpretation of this law that would not violate the basic rights and freedoms 
of Nicaraguan citizens as established by the Nicaraguan Constitution.  In 
addition, it violates Nicaragua's legal obligations under the Inter-American 
Convention on 
Human Rights, and therefore should be ruled unconstitutional.  Postage to 
Nicaragua from the U.S. is $.50 per half-ounce.

Write to:

Corte Suprema de Justicia
Plaza Espana
Managua
Nicaragua

There are nine justices on the Supreme Court: 4 are UNO, and 5 are Sandinistas. 
Please copy your letter to each of them.

UNO                                     
Dr. Orlando Trejos Somarriba            
Dr. Adrian Valdivia                     
Dr. Santiago Rivas Haslam               
Dr. Enrique Villagra                    
                                        
Sandinista
Dr. Rodrigo Reyes Portocarrero
Dr. Alba Luz Ramos
Dr. Rafael Chamorro Mora
Dr. Orlando Corrales
Dr. Ramon Romero

UPDATE

MEXICO:  Murders Still Unsolved, Letters to Mexican Congress Needed

MODEL LETTER
Honorable Members of Congress:

I (We), your name (org. name), respectfully request that you issue a decree 
prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.  This request is 
prompted by the recent wave of murders of homosexuals throughout Mexico, and 
the fact that most of the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.  
One such incident in Mexico City was the murder of Dr. Francisco Estrada Valle, 
president and founder of a group fighting against AIDS "Companeros en Ayuda 
Voluntaria Educativa (AVE) de Mexico".  I (We) note with dismay 
that it has been over three months since Dr. Estrada's murder, and justice has 
not yet been served.  A decree from Congress is necessary to establish 
protection from violence for gays and lesbians, and to send a signal to both 
the investigative apparatus and the criminals themselves that violence 
against gay men and lesbians will not escape punishment.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter, I (we) will appreciate your 
response.

Sincerely,

Send to:                        
Congreso de la Union                         
Palacio de San Lazaro           
Mexico,  D.F.                   

Copy to:
Presidencia de la Republica
Palacio Nacional
Mexico,  D.F.


Note:  Postage to Mexico from the U.S. is $.35 for the first half ounce.
** End of text from cdp:headlines **

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