 |
| Eddy Cosmas (centre) at NUS LGBT conference |
An African gay activist, Edson 'Eddy' Cosmas, has had his first appeal for UK asylum turned down by a judge in a hearing 26 May at Harmondsworth detention centre, where he is being held.
Judge S. Chana accepted the UK Border Agency (UKBA)'s argument that Eddy's story was not 'credible' and that he has no reason to fear persecution in Tanzania even if he was gay, which he isn't.
A lawyer for Eddy, who had only been instructed for the case the previous night, asked for the case to be removed from the 'fast track process' so a psychological and physical assessment (to establish whether he had been tortured) could take place. This was refused, in part because the judge accepted UKBA's evidence on the absence of persecution of homosexuality in Tanzania and "I took the view that I would not be assisted by the additional reports." A reason that Eddy was not credible and she rejected the appeal was because the judge thought a Tanzanian homosexual should know more about developments on homosexuality in Tanzania.
In other words, her argument was: 'if you are a gay activist, as you say you are, you are not a very good one.'
Last week, we examined the problems with the initial decision on Eddy's case which has led UKBA to place him in 'fast-track' (which leaves him with vastly reduced time to make his case). In particular we pointed to how evidence on Tanzania had been found by UKBA to back their argument that gays are not persecuted there, contrary to guidance, and how various aspects taken to undermine Eddy's credibility were in fact based on, at best, cultural misreadings or misunderstandings or, at worst, willful ignorance.
Most pointedly, the UKBA initial decision maker, found the evidence Eddy gave about how gay men meet each other in Tanzania 'not credible'. So did the judge, saying: "I found these answers to be vague and unimpressive in demonstrating a knowledge and experience of how gay men in Tanzania find gay partners for one night stands [sic]. I would have expected a person with genuine experience to have given more detailed and coherent answers." Like UKBA, the judge believe they could not be persecution in Tanzania if two LGBT organisations and an underground gay scene on the island of Zanzibar exists. The judge said that Eddy "would be expected to know more" about Zanzibar, or more than that the Tanzanian government is 'against homosexuality', because Eddy has had 'one night stands' (the judge's pejorative phrase, and my emphasis).
The judge then makes much of a lack of prosecutions for homosexual offences reported in human rights reports (such as that of the State Dept.). She said that the Nigerian gay activist Rev. Jide Macauley, who was giving evidence, said that the "only risk for homosexuals is from Tanzanian society and not from the government." This is contrasted by her with Eddy saying that he had read of people being convicted and sentenced in Tanzanian newspapers.
RSS feed
Join our page
