In the Fall 2006 Issue

PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT: Morrison & Foerster Attorneys Help End Indigenous Woman’s Two-Decade Nightmare of Abuse
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Technical Assistance Update: June–August 2006

A Second Chance for Congolese Asylum Seeker: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Equates Gang-Rapes and Beatings With “Legitimate Investigation”
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CGRS—ACTIVE AND INVOLVED
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Attorney General Announces Reforms for Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals: But Is There Hope for Real Change?
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CGRS Releases Update to 2005 Report on Guatemala’s Femicides
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Canadian Legal Scholar and German Asylum Lawyer Visit CGRS
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You Can Help Defend the Human Rights of Women and Girls From Around the World

CGRS Staff and Board

You may also download a pdf of the newsletter.

PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT
Morrison & Foerster Attorneys Help End Indigenous Woman’s Two-Decade Nightmare of Abuse

Isabel (not her real name) is an indigenous Quechua woman from Peru who suffered two decades of unrelenting abuse at the hands of her common-law spouse. In April 2006, Isabel was granted asylum by the Immigration Court in San Francisco, as a result of the excellent representation that she received from Pamela K. Dobie and Anthony Solana, Jr., her pro bono team from Morrison & Foerster.

Isabel’s story provides a window into a world in which women live in conditions of desperation and violence.
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A Second Chance for Congolese Asylum Seeker
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Equates Gang-Rapes and Beatings With “Legitimate Investigation”

CGRS is working side-by-side with pro bono attorneys for Ms. M., a victim of gang-rapes and beatings by government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ms. M. was a government employee in January 2001 when President Laurent Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards. Congolese security forces arrested and imprisoned the 27-year-old Ms. M. and other government employees who were working in the Presidential Palace at the time of the assassination.
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Technical Assistance Update:
June–August 2006

Between June and August 2006, CGRS received a total of 189 new requests for assistance in individual cases. A significant number of those cases were from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, followed by Mexico and Kenya. In the past three months, we have also seen cases from countries such as Burkina Faso, Trinidad and Tobago, Slovakia, and Nepal. Most frequently, these asylum seekers are fleeing domestic violence, followed by rape, female genital cutting, repressive social mores or cultural practices, and forced marriage.

CGRS—ACTIVE AND INVOLVED

June 2006—CGRS Director Karen Musalo gives a presentation about asylum and gender-based persecution at the Second World Social Forum on Migration in Madrid, Spain. Over 2,000 participants from 95 countries, representing 870 refugee and immigrant rights organizations took part in the Forum. Seated next to Karen is Itziar Caballero, who works with CEAR (Comisión de Ayuda al Refugiado), Spain’s foremost refugee NGO. CGRS and CEAR have been collaborating on a gender asylum campaign in Spain.
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Attorney General Announces Reforms for Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals
But Is There Hope for Real Change?

Jane had been a political prisoner in her native Uganda. While imprisoned, she had been raped and beaten by government soldiers, and her husband had been murdered. She managed to escape from Uganda—fleeing for her life—and came to the U.S. seeking asylum. However, her struggle for justice would continue even as she entered Immigration Judge Thomas Ragno’s Boston courtroom in June 2003.

The Boston Globe, among other sources, reported that according to an affidavit from Jane’s doctor at the Boston Medical Center, Judge Ragno commanded “Jane, come here…Me Tarzan” in a loud, mocking voice, and then proceeded to talk about how funny the Tarzan cartoons were.
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CGRS Releases Update to 2005 Report on Guatemala’s Femicides

This month we released Guatemala’s Femicides and the Ongoing Struggle for Women’s Human Rights: Update to CGRS’s 2005 Report “Getting Away With Murder.” The 2005 report explores the root causes why Guatemalan women are forced to seek asylum in order to escape violence and skyrocketing gender-motivated murders in their home county. By publishing this update, CGRS seeks to highlight the steps that remain to be taken for Guatemalan women to obtain the justice and security that they deserve.

Canadian Legal Scholar and German Asylum Lawyer Visit CGRS

This summer CGRS hosted Sean Rehaag, a Canadian legal scholar studying Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) asylum issues…

Marei Pelzer is a German asylum lawyer who joined CGRS for two months this summer. Marei works for PRO ASYL, a national nonprofit organization with offices throughout Germany that supports asylum seekers in that country.
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You Can Help Defend the Human Rights of Women and Girls From Around the World

CGRS depends on the generous support of foundations as well as individual, law firm, and corporate donors to carry out our work on behalf of women and girls fleeing gender-based persecution and seeking asylum in the U.S. Please consider making a secure online donation by clicking here now. Your donation—of any amount—truly makes a difference! Thank you so much for your support.

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
University of California Hastings College of the Law
200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415.565.4877 • Fax: 415.581.8824 • http://cgrs.uchastings.edu