Dutch Integration Minister Rita Verdonk moves to deport gay Iranians

The Netherlands’ Alien Affairs and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk, has recently sent a letter to Parliament informing the legislators that the government of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has decided to end the freeze on deportation of gay Iranian refugees. Rita Verdonk stated that «it appears that there are no cases of an execution on the basis of the sole fact that someone is homosexual... For homosexual men and women it is not totally impossible to function in society, although they should be wary of coming out of the closet too openly.» The six-month freeze was imposed after widespread protest in the wake of the hanging of two gay teens in Iran last July.

The Dutch newspaper, De Volkskrant, reported that the deportation edict has created a «commotion» in the Tweede Kamer. In a letter to Minister Verdonk, Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch highlights that Iran «is distinguished by the overt severity of the penalties it imposes on consensual, adult homosexual conduct». In fact, Article 111 of the Code of Islamic Punishments, Iran’s criminal code, states that lavat - sexual intercourse between men - «is punishable by death.» As such, Long claims that «Men and Women suspected of homosexual conduct in Iran face the threat of execution. We have documented brutal floggings imposed by courts as punishment, and torture, and ill-treatment, including sexual abuse, in police custody.» Moreover, he underlines «that societal as well as official scrutiny of «deviant» behavior is widespread in Iran».

Human Rights Watch recalls that the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the Netherlands from deporting a person who may be at risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Long emphasizes that the Netherlands are member of the UN Convention Against Torture which states in Article 3, that «No state shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subject to torture».

After the protest from Dutch political parties and gay rights groups against her deportation plan, Rita Verdonk asserted that she would judge each case individually, nonetheless stating in a letter to the Dutch Parliament that she would not stop returning Christian failed asylum seekers to Iran. If the Dutch Parliament allows the government’s plan to deport gay Iranians to stand, it is likely that Sweden, one of the other countries that instituted a freeze on deporting gay Iranians following the hanging of the two gay teens, would follow suit.

Documents:

 Human Rights Watch Letter to Minister Verdonk:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/08/nether12776.htm

 De Volkskrant article, Kamer: homo naar Iran terugsturen is krankzinnig (04/03/06)

http://www.volkskrant.nl/den_haag/article237161.ece

 Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization (PGLO) website:

http://www.pglo.org/