This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/mar/28/anti-rape-campaigner-odette-sefuko-released-from-detention
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Anti-rape campaigner Odette Sefuko released from detention | Anti-rape campaigner Odette Sefuko released from detention |
| (8 days later) | |
| A Sheffield asylum seeker, who claims she is the victim of torture and rape by Congolese police, was released on bail from Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire yesterday afternoon. | A Sheffield asylum seeker, who claims she is the victim of torture and rape by Congolese police, was released on bail from Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire yesterday afternoon. |
| Odette Sefuko was due to be deported to Uganda on Monday 4 March, but the Home Office suspended her removal after a judicial review claim was issued to the high court, as reported in the Guardian Northerner on 5 March. | Odette Sefuko was due to be deported to Uganda on Monday 4 March, but the Home Office suspended her removal after a judicial review claim was issued to the high court, as reported in the Guardian Northerner on 5 March. |
| Campaigners in Sheffield held a protest in February against the UK Border Agency's decision to deport Sefuko to Uganda despite UN expert evidence that she is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Home Office claims she is from Uganda. | Campaigners in Sheffield held a protest in February against the UK Border Agency's decision to deport Sefuko to Uganda despite UN expert evidence that she is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Home Office claims she is from Uganda. |
| Supporters claim that Sefuko fled the DRC in 2005 after her family were murdered and her husband "disappeared" by government officials. Sefuko says she belongs to the Banyamulenge ethnic group, which has been persecuted in the DRC for many decades. She claims she was interrogated, tortured and raped by Congolese police officers because she was president of a group that helped woman who had been raped. | Supporters claim that Sefuko fled the DRC in 2005 after her family were murdered and her husband "disappeared" by government officials. Sefuko says she belongs to the Banyamulenge ethnic group, which has been persecuted in the DRC for many decades. She claims she was interrogated, tortured and raped by Congolese police officers because she was president of a group that helped woman who had been raped. |
| Sefuko’s supporters say that while in detention at Yarl's Wood Sefuko was denied access to canteen meals (although she could buy food at the shop using money given to her by supporters), medicine and her post because she refused to use an identity card bearing the name of a Ugandan national. The Home Office claims this is Sefuko’s true identity. | Sefuko’s supporters say that while in detention at Yarl's Wood Sefuko was denied access to canteen meals (although she could buy food at the shop using money given to her by supporters), medicine and her post because she refused to use an identity card bearing the name of a Ugandan national. The Home Office claims this is Sefuko’s true identity. |
| Asked about this, the Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases. | Asked about this, the Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases. |
| Supporters fear Sefuko will be suspected of politically dissident activities if she is deported to Uganda and face the same torture and rape she experienced in the DRC. Despite numerous letters of protest to the UK Border Agency, including from Paul Blomfield MP, the UKBA insisted that Sefuko had to use the Ugandan identity card. | Supporters fear Sefuko will be suspected of politically dissident activities if she is deported to Uganda and face the same torture and rape she experienced in the DRC. Despite numerous letters of protest to the UK Border Agency, including from Paul Blomfield MP, the UKBA insisted that Sefuko had to use the Ugandan identity card. |
| Kim Balmer, one of Sefuko’s supporters, said Sefuko fears the same warzone rape against which William Hague spoke out in his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 March. Balmer said: | Kim Balmer, one of Sefuko’s supporters, said Sefuko fears the same warzone rape against which William Hague spoke out in his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 March. Balmer said: |
| Odette’s six weeks at Yarl’s Wood highlights a system in which we have lost sight of human dignity and respect. For Odette this was far more than just a case of wrong identity. To Odette it was a death sentence, a return to the brutality and rape that William Hague is currently speaking against in his trip to the Congo. | Odette’s six weeks at Yarl’s Wood highlights a system in which we have lost sight of human dignity and respect. For Odette this was far more than just a case of wrong identity. To Odette it was a death sentence, a return to the brutality and rape that William Hague is currently speaking against in his trip to the Congo. |
| Campaigner Peter Rowe said: | Campaigner Peter Rowe said: |
| I think the only way to understand what has happened to Odette in the UK is that regrettably the politics of immigration has corrupted the due process of asylum. Someone in the middle ranks of government seems to have interpreted their brief to mean that a deportation is always a good result regardless of the circumstances. It has made our asylum process arbitrary and capricious - a kind of Kafkaesque nightmare for genuine asylum seekers like Odette. | I think the only way to understand what has happened to Odette in the UK is that regrettably the politics of immigration has corrupted the due process of asylum. Someone in the middle ranks of government seems to have interpreted their brief to mean that a deportation is always a good result regardless of the circumstances. It has made our asylum process arbitrary and capricious - a kind of Kafkaesque nightmare for genuine asylum seekers like Odette. |
| Solicitors are now working hard to organise a DNA test with Sefuko's sister and children, who have been recognised by the UNHCR as refugees from the DRC. The government's current guidance on the DRC states that if an applicant is of Banyamulenge origin, granting of asylum is likely to be appropriate because they are in a vulnerable and insecure position and face persecution throughout the DRC. | Solicitors are now working hard to organise a DNA test with Sefuko's sister and children, who have been recognised by the UNHCR as refugees from the DRC. The government's current guidance on the DRC states that if an applicant is of Banyamulenge origin, granting of asylum is likely to be appropriate because they are in a vulnerable and insecure position and face persecution throughout the DRC. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox every weekday. |