{UAH} Home Affairs loses bid to deport gay Ugandan
|
2:47 PM |
No comments |
Home Affairs loses bid to deport gay Ugandan
A UGANDAN man fearing persecution in his home country because of his sexual orientation yesterday obtained an urgent order in the Windhoek High Court to stop plans to deport him.
"If I am returned to Uganda, I will most certainly be subjected to persecution, and I fear for my life and liberty," Kris Kelly says in an affidavit filed at the High Court in support of his urgent application for an interdict against his impending deportation to Uganda.
Kelly's case was heard by Judge Shafimana Ueitele yesterday afternoon. Judge Ueitele granted an interdict stopping Namibia's Commissioner for Refugees, Nkrumah Mushelenga, the Namibia Refugees Committee, the chairperson of the Immigration Tribunal, the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, and the officer in charge of the Seeis police station, where Kelly is being detained, from deporting him until an application by him to be granted refugee status in Namibia has been dealt with in accordance with Namibian laws.
Kelly, who is represented by lawyer Norman Tjombe, is claiming that he was in a same-sex relationship in Uganda when he and his partner decided in November last year to leave the country, where homosexual relationships are not only not accepted by a large part of the population, but were also outlawed and criminalised in terms of a controversial law early this year.
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act was declared unconstitutional by the Ugandan Constitutional Court last week. However, the court declared the law unconstitutional on a technical point only, after finding that the Ugandan parliament did not have a quorum when it voted to enact the law, which has drawn international criticism and condemnation for infringing on the human rights of gay people.
The law defines homosexuality as "same gender or same sex sexual acts", and states that anyone who "commits the offence of homosexuality" would be liable to imprisonment for life if convicted of that crime.
In his affidavit, Kelly says he travelled from Uganda via the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to Namibia. His partner was supposed to travel on to South Africa from Zambia. Kelly says he crossed the border into Namibia on 2 December last year, while being hidden in a lorry with which he then travelled to Walvis Bay.
Kelly says he went to the Narraville police station at Walvis Bay to inform the police that he had come from Uganda and wanted to be given refugee status in Namibia. However, he was detained as an illegal immigrant.
In late February, the Immigration Tribunal declared him a prohibited immigrant and ordered his deportation to Uganda, he says.
In the meantime, his detention at the Narraville police station continued until he escaped out of custody on 27 March. Kelly claims that he wanted to travel to the Osire refugee camp near Otjiwarongo, but he was rearrested near Karibib and ended up being sentenced to three months' imprisonment for the escape.
Kelly is arguing in his affidavit that persecution on the grounds of sexuality is a ground that would entitle him to be granted refugee status, under both Namibian law and international law.
He states: "I am liable to be persecuted in Uganda because of my sexuality. My sexuality places me in a social group, and in terms of section 3(a) of the Namibia Refugees Act, I qualify to be considered as a refugee in Namibia."
Since being moved to Seeis police station, which is close to Hosea Kutako International Airport, he has been fearing that his deportation and return to Uganda are now imminent, Kelly says. If that is done, he will be subjected to persecution because of his sexual orientation, he says.
The Namibian authorities have not received a proper application for refugee status from Kelly, government lawyer Steven Nkiwane told Judge Ueitele during the hearing of the case. Nkiwane agreed, though, that an interdict could be granted by the court in the meantime.
Kelly's case was heard by Judge Shafimana Ueitele yesterday afternoon. Judge Ueitele granted an interdict stopping Namibia's Commissioner for Refugees, Nkrumah Mushelenga, the Namibia Refugees Committee, the chairperson of the Immigration Tribunal, the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, and the officer in charge of the Seeis police station, where Kelly is being detained, from deporting him until an application by him to be granted refugee status in Namibia has been dealt with in accordance with Namibian laws.
Kelly, who is represented by lawyer Norman Tjombe, is claiming that he was in a same-sex relationship in Uganda when he and his partner decided in November last year to leave the country, where homosexual relationships are not only not accepted by a large part of the population, but were also outlawed and criminalised in terms of a controversial law early this year.
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act was declared unconstitutional by the Ugandan Constitutional Court last week. However, the court declared the law unconstitutional on a technical point only, after finding that the Ugandan parliament did not have a quorum when it voted to enact the law, which has drawn international criticism and condemnation for infringing on the human rights of gay people.
The law defines homosexuality as "same gender or same sex sexual acts", and states that anyone who "commits the offence of homosexuality" would be liable to imprisonment for life if convicted of that crime.
In his affidavit, Kelly says he travelled from Uganda via the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to Namibia. His partner was supposed to travel on to South Africa from Zambia. Kelly says he crossed the border into Namibia on 2 December last year, while being hidden in a lorry with which he then travelled to Walvis Bay.
Kelly says he went to the Narraville police station at Walvis Bay to inform the police that he had come from Uganda and wanted to be given refugee status in Namibia. However, he was detained as an illegal immigrant.
In late February, the Immigration Tribunal declared him a prohibited immigrant and ordered his deportation to Uganda, he says.
In the meantime, his detention at the Narraville police station continued until he escaped out of custody on 27 March. Kelly claims that he wanted to travel to the Osire refugee camp near Otjiwarongo, but he was rearrested near Karibib and ended up being sentenced to three months' imprisonment for the escape.
Kelly is arguing in his affidavit that persecution on the grounds of sexuality is a ground that would entitle him to be granted refugee status, under both Namibian law and international law.
He states: "I am liable to be persecuted in Uganda because of my sexuality. My sexuality places me in a social group, and in terms of section 3(a) of the Namibia Refugees Act, I qualify to be considered as a refugee in Namibia."
Since being moved to Seeis police station, which is close to Hosea Kutako International Airport, he has been fearing that his deportation and return to Uganda are now imminent, Kelly says. If that is done, he will be subjected to persecution because of his sexual orientation, he says.
The Namibian authorities have not received a proper application for refugee status from Kelly, government lawyer Steven Nkiwane told Judge Ueitele during the hearing of the case. Nkiwane agreed, though, that an interdict could be granted by the court in the meantime.
___________________________________
Gwokto La'Kitgum"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower
UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment