[psych-hr] Assistance needed with asylum case

Hello friends,

If you can help, please reply directly to barbaranielsen@dwt.com (Nielsen,
Barbara).

Thank you,

Anne Anderson
National Coordinator
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
2604 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 745-7084
(202) 745-0051 fax
psysrusa@cs.com
www.psysr.org


---------------
From: "Nielsen, Barbara" <barbaranielsen@dwt.com>
To: "'psysrusa@cs.com'" <psysrusa@cs.com>
Subject: FW: We need help - any guidance would be appreciated - deadline f
	or application is 7/11/02
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 16:51:09 -0700

Dear People,

I am assisting in a pro bono asylum case brought to our attention by the
asylum law project of the [San Francisco] Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights and we are in a quandary and hope that one or more of you might
have information and/or guidance that might help us in this matter, which
has some urgency.

The situation:  A Iranian woman, US legal permanent resident, committed 2
petty theft felonies.  There is an INS hearing on a withholding of removal
application set for July 18, 2002; the application itself is due July 11,
2002.

The client is schizophrenic, and has recently been treated for same under
auspices of the INS.  We have been searching for information on the
treatment of the mentally ill or disabled in Iran and have found virtually
no information - the exception is the circled text on page 25 of the
attached 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Released by the
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor U.S. Department of State,
February 25, 2000.

Our client is currently so paranoid that she refuses to talk with counsel;
she was removed from the last hearing for using profanity; she is not a
practicing Muslim and there is no evidence that she is able or willing to
comply with any conduct or dress code that may be mandatory in Iran should
she be deported.

Does any one of you have any information to which we could cite in support
of the application withholding removal, particularly as it relates to
mental illness?  Or sources we could check?  I have pulled asylumlaw.org
documents, including UN and USDOS, have reviewed the UN site, have
searched at Amnesty International's sites, have obtained 2 law review
articles and have searched at the resources listed at
<http://www.irainc.org>.  However, as stated above, the attached document
is the only one that mentions anything that could be considered a
discussion of mental illness or disability.  Most information is about the
conditions for women and the penalties paid by noncomplying women.

(n.b. One of the law review articles (att, 5 Am. U. J. Gender & Law 57,
WOMEN IN IRAN: OBSTACLES TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS from
LEXIS, see page 8 of 30) does suggest that in Fatin v. INS, 12 F.3d 1233
(3d Cir.  1993), "activist women in Iran were a persecuted group that
could find asylum in the United States if they could prove their
membership in the class. Fatin v. INS was a stepping stone for Iranian
women.  It finally showed an international awareness of repression on the
basis of gender persecution.  Judge Alito defined persecution in the case
as "Iranian women who refuse to conform to the government's
gender-specific laws and social norms."  Finally, Judge Alito defined
Iranian women who wanted rights as a group seeking such rights."  I have
also pulled the 9th Circuit case citing to Fatin, Fisher v. INS, 61 F.3d
1366 (9th Cir. 1994), reh'g granted en banc, substituted opinion at 79
F.3d 955 (9th Cir. 1996). Neither of these cases deals with a mentally ill
woman, however.)

This is a copy of the email I sent to several attorneys who have indicated
their experience in asylum seekers from Iran.  I am forwarding the
information to you at the suggestion of Stephen McNeill of AFSC here in
San Francisco.  Any information on schizophrenia and US asylum from any
country would be appreciated.

We would be most appreciative of any information you may have that might
assist us.  Please contact me via email, telephone (direct at
415-276-6553) or facsimile (direct at 451-276-4853 which brings faxes in
to my computer as tif files).  Thank you very much for your consideration.
bln


Barbara L. Nielsen
Paralegal
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
One Embarcadero Center, Suite 600
San Francisco, California  94111-3611
415-276-6553 direct - 415-276-6500 office-wide
415-276-4853 direct facsimile - 415-276-6599 office-wide facsimile
barbaranielsen@dwt.com

Attachment: Iran-WomensRights-1996 5AmUJGender&Law57-highlighted.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: Iran-usdos99_iran.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document