United States Congress

For Immediate Release

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Contact:

Bethany Lesser (Gillibrand) 202-224-3873Jerilyn Goodman (Baldwin) 608-251-8737

GILLIBRAND, BALDWIN TO SEC. CLINTON:SAVE LGBT REFUGEES

LGBT Individuals Tortured and Killed in Iraq in 2009 No Proper Investigations, No Arrests for Crimes Against LGBT Individuals in IraqTake Action to Enforce Human Rights Laws to Protect Members of the LGBT Community in Countries Where Their Rights Are Abused.

Washington, D.C.

– With hundreds of LGBT individuals being beaten, persecuted andeven killed in Iraq, Iran and other countries, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congresswoman TammyBaldwin (D-WI), joined by 11 of their Senate colleagues and 31 of their Housecolleagues, today wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to work with U.S.Ambassadors, the United Nations and NGOs across the globe to enforce human rightslaws that protect LGBT individuals in the countries where they are under threat. Wheresafe conditions are not possible, the U.S. and the UN must work with refugee and humanrights groups to expedite refugees’ flight to safety.According to Human Rights Watch, there is no official number of deaths since the killingof LGBT individuals began in Iraq, but the U.N. has provided rough estimates range inthe hundreds in 2009 alone. Not one murder of an LGBT individual in Iraq has led to anarrest, according to Human Rights Watch.“It is time for us in Congress to take a strong stand against all hate crimes and persecution – wherever they occur,”

Senator Gillibrand

said. “People in this worldshould not have to suffer or fear for their lives because of who they are or what they believe in. It is wrong and it must end. If Iraq, Iran and other countries are not providing the legal protections that members of their LGBT communities are entitled to,it is our duty to join with our partners in the international community, enforce the humanrights laws that protect us all, and free LGBT individuals from persecution. While theultimate goal is safe conditions in these countries, until that happens, the U.S., UN andthe international community must ensure that LGBT refugees can reach safety incountries where they won’t face persecution”“The lives of LGBT individuals in Iran and Iraq, as well as those LGBT refugees whohave fled persecution, are in grave danger,” said Congresswoman Baldwin, Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. “I know Secretary of State Clinton shares our concerns for human rights and I hope she will use the full force of her office to respond tothe plight of Iraqi and Iranian LGBT refugees and urge the UNHRC to do the same,”

Congresswoman Baldwin

said.

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“Senator Gillibrand’s letter highlights the difficulty that foreign lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender (LGBT) refugees face when their home countries, and their countries of first asylum, permit or condone discrimination and brutal attacks based on sexualorientation or gender identity,” said

HRC President Joe Solmonese

. “Secretary Clintonhas said that LGBT rights are human rights and we agree. We look forward to workingwith the State Department and Senator Gillibrand to ensure that U.S. foreign policystrongly supports protecting the human rights of LGBT individuals abroad.”“Today, these Members of Congress have presented a comprehensive set of recommendations that will help ensure the protection of individuals who flee persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity only to face further persecution andviolence in the countries they have fled to in search of safe refuge,” said

Human RightsFirst’s Eleanor Acer

. “We praise their leadership on this issue, and urge theadministration to implement these measures including a fast-track resettlement processfor individuals facing serious protection risks.”

Gideon Aronoff, President & CEO of HIAS

said, ““Refugees who have fled persecution on the basis of their sexuality are among the most vulnerable in the world, as persecution often follows them across borders from one country to the next.Additionally, in some parts of the world the LGBT population is at special risk becauseof strong cultural mores that reject and demonize all but traditional male/femalerelationships. For some, resettlement to the U. S. or another free country is the only life-saving solution, but neither the U.S. Refugee Program nor the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is adequately prepared to give LGBT refugees the access tosafety which they so desperately need. The Congressional letter organized by Sen.Gillibrand to Secretary Clinton suggests sensible and concrete steps to save the lives of LGBT refugees, and we urge the Department of State to give thesesuggestions expeditious consideration.”Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Baldwin’s letter to Secretary Clinton is below:The Honorable Hillary Rodham ClintonSecretary of State of the United States of America2201 C Street NWWashington, DC 20520-0099Dear Madam Secretary,We are writing to share our concerns about the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender (LGBT) individuals in countries where these individuals’ health and lives arethreatened and governments provide inadequate protection. Our concern was sparkedmost recently by accounts of LGBT individuals from Iraq and Iran who have had to fleeafter being severely beaten or worse, or because they face a significant risk of such persecution. Unfortunately, this situation is not unique to Iraq and Iran. LGBTindividuals in a number of other countries are also under threat. Moreover, we aretroubled by the fact that a number of countries criminalize or are taking steps to increase penalties against the LGBT community.

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We know you share our concern. We appreciate the attention that the United StatesGovernment has paid to the special circumstances of people fleeing countries where theyface persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, particularly Iraq andIran. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, for example, has raised the unsolved attacks on gaymen with the Ministry of Interior and the Human Rights Ministry. While we value thesesteps, we remain concerned about people’s safety in both these and other countries withreports of persecution of LGBT individuals and/or groups. We are likewise very troubledthat LGBT refugees from Iraq and Iran and possibly other countries face risks in firstasylum countries where refugees often remain for years, and which are often nearly ashostile to the LGBT community as their home countries.Therefore we respectfully request you to consider several ways in which your leadershipand guidance would improve protection for LGBT individuals in both the countrieswhere they are targeted and the first asylum countries where their safety is in question.1. United States Ambassadors in countries of concern should strongly andconsistently raise the fact that laws targeting homosexual activity and a lack of protection for LGBT individuals or groups violate international human rights law.2. United Nations and its appropriate agencies, such as the Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights, should increase their promotion of the humanrights of LGBT individuals and ensure that appropriate programs are focused onsupport of such individuals and groups. 3. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should increase thetraining of all of its employees, contractors and implementing partners followingits Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. UNHCR should maximize its implementation of this important guidanceso that LGBT refugees are not disadvantaged by inappropriate conduct or inadequate processing by UNHCR employees or implementing partners. Itappears that additional LGBT refugee protection tools would need to bedeveloped. As the largest donor, the U.S. could help foster an appropriate focuson this issue.4. Ffor LGBT individuals, such as those from Iran and Iraq, who face risks in thecountries of first asylum, as well as inside their home countries, resettlement processing should be expedited. This can be done in a number of ways,including:a. Those LGBT refugees who can articulate a serious protection concern because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in the country of firstasylum can be designated “refugees of special humanitarian concern” sothey are eligible for Priority 2, or direct processing to the U.S. refugeeadmissions program. The United States already designated several groupsof at-risk U.S.-affiliated Iraqis as P2-eligible in 2007 and 2008, and hasused the designation for refugees from other countries in the past. Weappreciate that this category of direct-access eligibility is reserved for some of the most at-risk groups and must be carefully crafted to identify adiscrete group.