UK deporting gay man to Uganda tomorrow. Please sign petition

[marshlander]

Robert Segwanyi


Robert with his partner in Uganda. He doesn't know where his partner is now.

Source: change.org

London, UK - In less than 24 hours, more than 800 people have joined a petition campaign started on Change.org calling on the Home Office to halt the deportation of Robert Segwanyi to Uganda, where he was imprisoned and tortured for being gay.

Segwanyi is scheduled for deportation on Thursday,18 August, 2011 on Kenya Airways KQ410 which leaves Heathrow Airport at 20:00.

“Robert has been badly represented, which is largely why his case has hit a crisis point,” said Paul Canning, a blogger at LGBT Asylum News who launched the campaign on Change.org. “The UK authorities are also being completely unreasonable. There is plenty of evidence Robert is gay and -- of course -- that Uganda is unsafe.”

Uganda’s government continues to threaten gays and lesbians with the infamous “kill the gays” bill, which if passed would make being gay or lesbian a crime punishable by death. While the bill died at the end of the last Parliament in May, Uganda’s government appears willing to resurrect the measure sometime in August.

Gays and lesbians are regularly arrested and tortured in Uganda, and according to LGBT Asylum News Segwanyi was arrested in 2010 and tortured for being gay. He eventually escaped to the United Kingdom, where he applied for asylum two weeks after his arrival.

John Bosco, one of the few gay men to return to the United Kingdom after being deported to Uganda, met Robert before he was in Haslar detention centre (near Portsmouth) and has remained in phone contact.
"It's a really bad time for him and as a gay Ugandan, I know how hard it is to be gay in Uganda as I was arrested and tortured by police,” Bosco told LGBT Asylum News. “Many people have been beaten by the public as soon as you have been labelled being gay. When I was deported by the British, you handed me back to government officers and this is what exactly happened to me. I was beaten up really badly. Robert is in tears and terrified."
A UK immigration judge denied Segwanyi’s asylum appeal, claiming Uganda poses no threat to gays and lesbians.

On Tuesday, Canning started an additional petition on Change.org asking Kenya Airways to refuse to let Segwanyi board his flight. Pilots for Air France refused to fly Joseph Kaute to Cameroon, where he faced five years in prison for being gay. Canning hopes this last-minute campaign will potentially spare Robert’s life.
“I hope Immigration officials do the right thing and let Robert Segwanyi stay in the United Kingdom,” said Paul Canning. “But if they don’t, then I hope Kenya Airways refuses to fly Robert Segwanyi because Robert’s safety is in jeopardy if he is deported to Uganda.”
Paul Canning’s petition on Change.org asking UK officials to let Segwanyi stay:
http://www.change.org/petitions/save-gay...t-segwanyi

Paul Canning’s petition asking Kenya Airways to refuse to fly Segwanyi:
http://www.change.org/petitions/kenya-ai...-to-uganda

Paul Canning’s up-to-date reporting about Segwanyi:
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/08/o...eeker.html
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/07/u...soned.html
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/07/a...andan.html

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.
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Action Alert: Help save gay Ugandan Robert Segwanyi!

[princealbertofb]

I'm sorry to say but the petition letter is not really well worded.... Have you read it? Where does it mention the demands made by the petition? I'm afraid it ought to be more clearly stated, oughtn't it? Some of the facts presented don't need to be in there for the Minister to examine the case.

[marshlander]

If anyone is not familiar with the appalling human rights situation in Uganda (and the serious likelihood of it becoming much much worse when its parliament reconvenes) this talk may fill in some of the missing information.

[marshlander]

I'm sorry to say but the petition letter is not really well worded.... Have you read it? Where does it mention the demands made by the petition? ...

Yes, I've read it. I usually read things before I sign them. Maybe it could have been worded differently, but the demand is stated in the final sentence.

We are urging you as Home Secretary to re-examine his case and give him protection in the UK.

[princealbertofb]

Thanks for the information, Marshlander. I just thought the petition would be more effective if it had been better worded. I feel I must sign it anyway.

[Bookworm]

Signed. Lets hope it works!

[SlipknotRlZZ]

Signed. Jeez the Uk's been going down lately..

[marshlander]

Signed. Jeez the Uk's been going down lately..

Unfortunately, Ryan, the attitude of the UK Border Agency has been like this for many years. One is left with a feeling that they have been given a quota to meet and they'll throw anyone to the torturers to meet it.

It is quite beyond me how anyone in authority can honestly claim to be unaware of the Ugandan situation. Even a BBC mainstream Radio 1 presenter filmed a documentary there (which has been aired a couple of times) and was visibly scared by what he found.

[princealbertofb]

Signed, they need another 132 signatures, so members of GaySpeak, please take a look at it. The video, although difficult to listen to, says why we need to defend human rights even outside our local borders.

[Genersis]

Done.mile:
Hope this works.:frown: