Iran ( Iranian Lesbian: We Are The Denied Identity )

Posted on: 7th March, 2014                         

             

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Samira, an Iranian lesbian

As a part of women’s community, the Iranian lesbian community faces problems twice more than other women in Iran. For 8 March, International Women’s Day, we have prepared an interview with an Iranian lesbian who is also active in LGBT rights.

*Please introduce yourself and give us a summary of your activities.
My name is Samira, an Iranian Lesbian. Because of lack of support by my family and other issues in the society, I was forced to leave Iran. I am a member of IRQO (Iranian Queer Organization), for now, I am active in LGBT issues and defending LGBT rights, doing researchers to finally improve the awareness of people with cooperation of my friends.
*Dear Samira, why you were forced to leave Iran? What were your problems in Iran? Was it the only solution to leave Iran?
As I mentioned, lack of support by family, problems in the society, by government and people, these are parts of issues that forced me to leave Iran. As you know, Iranian society is Masculism, and being a woman by itself, does not make you have enough civil rights, now imagine a woman who is a lesbian in this society. After many years of being aware of my orientation, I was forced to play a role, always I was forced to reject myself and wear a mask [of a woman who is not lesbian] in favor of my family and society. But it wasn’t me and my “real self” was oppressed. Regarding the last part of your question, I think abandoning and leaving is better than staying and sufferings in humiliation.
*Suppose the family as a small part of society, were you successful in educating your family about your desired issues? What was their reaction?
I tried in many ways, both directly and indirectly, by talking, showing documents, magazines and essays of homosexuals. But the reaction was always not to hear and pretending that this issue does not exist.
*Did you try to change the situation in favor of yourself in Iran? What was the reaction of street women to you?
Unfortunately no because of the fear of everything I couldn’t act or do any awareness in this issue. But I had some friends who I told them about it, they had a very bad reaction and even made me humiliated. But I tried to explain for them that I or any lesbian is not what you think. I always tried to behave like a homosexual, but the only result for me was depression.
*As an Iranian lesbian, how you explain the problems of this part of Iranian women’s society?
The government of Iran emphasizes the forbidding homosexuality by issuing severe sentences and punishments and also giving medical permission for sex-change to hide this issue in the society. In one sentence, we are always the denied identity. I have had [homosexual] friends who had faced misbehavior and discrimination such as being raped in custody, arrested in parties, deprived of education and work.

Mexico ( Mexican Mayor Accused of Homicide )

MORELIA, Mexico – The mayor of the western Mexican town of Huetamo was arrested on charges of homicide and extortion, the Michoacan state Attorney General’s Office said Thursday.

Dalia Santana Pineda was being questioned by AG’s office investigators in Morelia, the state capital, according to an official statement.

Elected mayor in 2011, Santana belongs to Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Authorities apparently suspect her of ties to Los Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), the drug cartel that has been terrorizing Michoacan for the last few years.

She is the state’s fourth mayor to be arrested this year on suspicion of colluding with the Templarios.

Two of the other three are PRI members, while the third, Mayor Arquimides Oseguera Solorio of the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, is affiliated with the leftist PRD.

Oseguera was detained after being seen in a video with Templarios boss Servando Gomez Martinez.

Santana is a political ally of Huetamo native Jesus Reyna Garcia, who served as interim governor of Michoacan for much of 2013 and is likewise behind bars for alleged links to the Templarios.

Rodrigo Vallejo, son of erstwhile Michoacan Gov. Fausto Vallejo, was jailed last week after he refused to answer questions from prosecutors about his own videotaped encounter with the Templarios’ Gomez Martinez.

The ailing Fausto Vallejo resigned as governor in June amid a storm of criticism after the federal government deployed soldiers and police in Michoacan in January to end the wave of drug-related violence in the state.

The federal government intervened in Michoacan to fill a security vacuum in the state, where community self-defense groups had formed to defend themselves against the Templarios cartel.

Since January, federal authorities have dealt the cartel a series of blows, capturing or killing several of its top leaders.

LAGOS ( Dozens of Youths Reported Kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria )

LAGOS – Around 100 youths have been kidnapped by suspected members of the radical Islamic militia Boko Haram in the northern Nigerian state of Borno, where four months ago the group abducted more than 200 girls, media reported Friday.

The kidnapping occurred last Sunday when gunmen stormed the Doron Baga community in an attack that also killed at least 10 people, witnesses quoted by the Nigerian newspaper The Punch said.

A witness, whose husband died in the attack, told the newspaper that gunmen attacked the village and kidnapped some 100 youths, prompting many residents to flee.

However, the kidnapping has not been confirmed by Nigerian authorities, who are still unaware of the whereabouts of the more than 200 girls abducted by the same group on April 14.

The extremist Islamic group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the girls and threatened to sell them if authorities did not release “terrorist” prisoners.

Borno is considered to be Boko Haram’s spiritual stronghold and the base of its operations, but the extremists are also active in the neighboring states of Adamawa and Yobe, where the Nigerian government has declared a state of emergency.

Since the killing of its founder, Mohamed Yusuf, in 2009 by police forces, Boko Haram has staged a bloody campaign that has claimed nearly 12,000 lives according to Government estimates.

Boko Haram, which in local language means “non-Islamic education is a sin,” is fighting to impose an Islamic state in Nigeria, a country with a Muslim majority in the north and a predominantly Christian population in the south.

Man beat by two transgenders

WASHINGTON ( Number of Children Caught Crossing U.S. Border Drops ) haha

WASHINGTON – The number of unaccompanied undocumented children apprehended on the southern border of the United States dropped in July to 5,508, compared with more than 10,000 in both May and June, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

DHS said it was the first time this year that the number has been lower than in the previous month.

“While the decrease in apprehensions in July is good news and reflects a positive trend that we hope continues, the current numbers are still higher than the number of apprehensions for children and adults with children during past years,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said.

Since October, almost 63,000 children, most of them from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been caught trying to cross unaccompanied into the U.S., which has caused a humanitarian crisis beyond federal agencies’ capacity to deal with it.

The number of minors taken into custody was 7,176 in March, 7,702 in April, 10,579 in May, and 10,628 in June, according to DHS figures.

Johnson repeated the message of the U.S. government that “our border is not open to illegal migration.”

“Unless you qualify for some form of humanitarian relief, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values,” the secretary said.

President Barack Obama asked Congress for $3.7 billion in special funds to manage the situation, but lawmakers departed for their summer recess without approving the financing.

“I was disappointed that Congress left for its August recess without acting on the President’s request for supplemental funding to support the men and women of this department who have worked overtime to respond to the urgent situation,” Johnson said.

“In the meantime, to avoid running out of money, I have been left with no choice but to reprogram money away from other homeland security missions,” he said.

DHS is diverting $405 million from other tasks “to support the response to this situation,” the secretary said.

TUCSON AZ ( Arizona Police Chief: Aim of SB1070 Was Scaring Immigrants )

TUCSON, Arizona – The Tucson police chief expressed the opinion that Arizona’s controversial SB1070 immigration law was designed to make the immigrant community afraid of law enforcement authorities and leave the state.

“This law was originally designed so that undocumented immigrants would be afraid of the police, be afraid of coming to ask for help, feel themselves to be a target and, in that sense, I think that the law was successful, given that some of them have left the state voluntarily,” said Roberto Villaseñor in an interview with Efe.

Arizona’s Hispanic community has continued to fight against SB1070 since it entered into force in 2010, and they complain about cases of abuse by the law enforcement agencies.

At the heart of the debate is the law’s controversial Section 2(B), also known as the “show me your papers” provision, that since 2012 requires police officers to ask about the immigration status of people they “suspect” of being undocumented.

Villaseñor said that his officers comply with SB1070 by contacting the Border Patrol as soon as they determine there is probable cause to believe a person may be undocumented, rejecting accusations that the Tucson Police Department discriminates against the immigrant community.

“The idea exists that the police have the option to call the Border Patrol or not, but the truth is that we don’t,” said Villaseñor, who was appointed police chief in 2009.

The TPD has been the target of protests after a confrontation last Sunday between police, Border Patrol agents and activists who lay down underneath official vehicles to try and prevent an undocumented immigrant from being handed over to immigration authorities.

“I understand the confusion and the dissatisfaction that exists among activists and members of the community about the interpretation of the law. The way in which SB1070 is written gives no other option to police departments than to verify the immigration status of the detained person,” Villaseñor said.

According to TPD figures, from June 12 to August 10 its officers verified the immigration status of 3,109 people under SB1070.

On those occasions, the Border Patrol responded just 45 times and took 24 people into custody.

One of the main things leading the police to ask for the immigration papers of drivers is the lack of a driver’s license or other official identification issued by the state.

According to the TPD, 43.1 percent of the people whose immigration status was verified under SB1070 were of Hispanic origin, which, according to Villaseñor, is in line with the proportion of Latinos in Tucson.

Mexico ( Human Rights Commission Investigates Acid Spill in Mexican River )

MEXICO – Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has opened an investigation into the toxic spill from the Buenavista del Cobre mine into the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers in the northwest of the country, that has affected local inhabitants and killed fish and livestock in the area.

According to information published by the media and quoted by the CNDH, there was a spillage last Thursday from one of the dams containing solutions with sulphuric-treated copper and other metals that found its way into the rivers.

A 60-kilometer (38-mile) orange slick was seen in the municipalities of Arizpe, Banamichi, Baviacora, Aconchi, Cananea, Hermosillo and Ures, all of them in the state of Sonora.

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commissioner Raul Plascencia said inspectors will be sent to the area to gather information and provide legal advice.

The National Water Commission has restricted water supply in the seven affected municipalities to prevent putting the inhabitants’ health at risk.

The federal prosecutor for environmental protection (PROFEPA) said a well containing the chemical substances near the mine overflowed due to heavy rains last Thursday.

The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) as well as PROFEPA are coordinating efforts to protect the flora and fauna of the region.

PROFEPA has also ordered the Buenavista del Cobre company, owned by mining giant Grupo Mexico, “to provide full remediation” for the spill.

Sonora is the country’s leading producer of gold, copper and graphite