Usa: us must not deport gay asylum seeker to Ghana: Sadat I

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UA: 65/18 Index: AMR 51/8127/2018 USA 

Date: 23 March 2018

 

 

URGENT ACTION 

US MUST NOT DEPORT GAY ASYLUM SEEKER TO GHANA 

Sadat I. fled homophobic attacks from a criminal group in Ghana and has been held in 

US immigration detention since requesting asylum there in January 2016. US authorities 

are seeking to forcibly return Sadat to Ghana, where he faces human rights violations by 

police and the groups he fled. Sadat must immediately be released on parole pending the 

resolution of his asylum claim, and under no circumstances be deported to Ghana.

 

 

Sadat I., 31, a gay man from Ghana, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 

claiming asylum at the US-Mexico border on 17 January 2016; he is now held in Pearsall, Texas. Sadat fled Ghana 

in November 2015 

after being beaten by members of the vigilante group ‘Safety Empire’, which burned down his 

house and beat his uncle three days later as Sadat was in hiding. The vigilantes identified Sadat as gay after 

beating and interrogating his gay friend and intimate partner, and posting a video of that beating 

on the leader’s 

Facebook page. The group re-posted the video in April 2017, which has received over 53,000 views, further 

exposing Sadat as a gay man. The leader remains free in Ghana and threatening the gay community there. 

 

Homosexuality remains a criminal offense in Ghana, and the police consistently fail to prosecute and punish 

attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Despite evidence that Sadat would 

continue to face persecution, imprisonment, and threats to his life if returned there, US authorities have denied his 

parole and are seeking his deportation, claiming he failed to prove that he still faces threats in Ghana. 

Sadat’s 

family sent him a video as evidence of the ongoing threats of persecution he faces, yet ICE removed the video from 

his package without informing him. In 

rejection of Sadat’s

 appeal in November 2017, the immigration judge stated 

that even though ICE officers withheld this evidence, Sadat failed to reach out to his family to confirm that they had 

sent it. Sadat went on hunger strike twice in February 2018 to protest the poor conditions of prolonged detention 

that he has suffered. His lawyers say ICE retaliated against Sadat in response to his hunger strikes.    

 

Detention should only be used by immigration officials as a last resort and justified on a case by case basis. Parole 

should be granted for humanitarian reasons where the person does not pose a threat to public safety and presents 

no flight risk. No asylum seeker should ever be forcibly returned to a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment, 

including imprisonment based on a prohibited ground of discrimination, such as sexual orientation. As Sadat fits all 

of these parameters, US authorities should release him from detention immediately and not deport him to Ghana.  

 

Please write immediately in English or your own language: 



 

Calling on US authorities to immediately halt any deportation proceedings against Sadat I.; 



 

Urging ICE to release Sadat I. (case file A# 208-920-376) on parole, pending the resolution of his asylum claim; 



 

Calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to review 

apparent due process violations in the handling of S

adat’s asylum claim, and his ill

-treatment in detention. 

 

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 4 MAY 2018 TO:

 

ICE Field Office Director 

Daniel Bible 

San Antonio Field Office 

 

8940 Fourwinds Drive 

San Antonio, TX 78239 USA   

Email: [e-mail] 

Salutation: Dear Mr. Bible 

  

 

(Acting) ICE Director 

Thomas Homan 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

500 12th Street SW 

Washington, D.C. 20536 USA  

Email: [e-mail]  

Salutation: Dear Mr. Homan   

(Acting) DHS Inspector General 

John Kelly 

 

Office of the Inspector General 

MAIL STOP 0305   

Department of Homeland Security 

245 Murray Lane SW 

 

Washington, DC 20528-0305 USA 

 

Fax: [phone] 

Email: dhs-

[e-mail] 

  

Salutation: Dear Mr. Kelly

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below: 

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation 

 

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.  

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URGENT ACTION

 

US MUST NOT DEPORT GAY ASYLUM SEEKER TO GHANA 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

 

Under international law, the US government has an obligation to ensure that the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers 

are respected, protected and fulfilled. International standards, including instruments to which the United States is a party, 

contain a strong presumption against the detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. The International Covenant on Civil and 

Political Rights (ICCPR) clearly sets out the right to be free from arbitrary detention. Detention should only be used as a 

measure of last resort; it must be justified in each individual case and be subject to judicial review. Detention is only appropriate 

when authorities can demonstrate in each individual case that it is necessary and proportionate to the objective being achieved 

and on grounds prescribed by law, and that alternatives (such as reporting requirements, bail or financial deposits) would not be 

effective.  

 

In its July 2017 report on a country visit to the United States, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said: "The Working 

Group is of the view that the mandatory detention of immigrants, especially asylum seekers, is contrary to international human 

rights and refugee rights standards.[...] The Working Group has observed that the current system of detaining immigrants and 

asylum seekers is, in many cases, punitive, unreasonably long, unnecessary, costly when there are alternative community-

based solutions, 

[…]

 not based on an individualized assessment of the necessity and proportionality of detention, carried out in 

degrading conditions, and a deterrent to legitimate asylum claims." 

 

Under the ICCPR, the Convention against Torture, and customary international law, the United States government is under an 

obligation not to return individuals to a situation in which they would be at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses: 

the principle of non-refoulement. Such safeguards are imperative for protecting refugees fleeing violence and persecution. In a 

28 February 2018 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 

found that prolonged detention based solely 

on migration status equates to “

arbitrary 

detention”

, and often quickly, if not 

immediately, constitutes ill-treatment 

–

 particularly for LGBTI asylum seekers, among other vulnerable groups. 

 

Under US 

law, all individuals apprehended at the border “shall be detained” pending deportation proceedings. US law provides 

that these individuals may be released on parole on a case-by-

case basis for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or for “significant 

public benef

it” where the individual presents neither a security risk nor a risk of absconding. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement policies provide Field Office Directors with discretion to parole individuals who have established a credible fear on 

a case by case basis for these same reasons 

–

 which includes persons whose continued detention is not in the public interest 

–

 

as well as discretion when it comes to the continued detention of individuals suffering from medical emergencies. Both policies 

relate to the decision on whom to detain or to release on bond, supervision, personal recognizance or other condition.  

 

 

Name: 

Sadat I. (A#208-920-376)

 

Gender m/f: 

m

 

 

 

UA: 65/18 Index: AMR 51/8127/2018 Issue Date: 23 March 2018