Father of the Year Award
Analysis by James T. Daly
US Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, No. 18-1342
Adamu Sumaila, Petitioner, v. Attorney General of the United States of America, Respondent.
This year’s award for Father of the Year goes to the father of Adamu Sumaila of Ghana.
Adamu Sumaila fled his home country of Ghana and entered the United States without authorization after his father and neighbors assaulted him and threatened his life when they discovered that he was in a same-sex relationship.
Here is what happened: One morning in January 2016, Adamu’s father unexpectedly entered his son’s bedroom at the break of dawn and discovered him having sex with another man. His father went into a rage and began shouting that his son was having sex with another man and called on others to “come and witness what my son is up to.” He demanded answers from his son and condemned his actions. The father said, “Why do you engage in homosexuality? You have brought shame to this family and I will make sure you face the wrath of this evil deed.”
Upon hearing this uproar, a mob of neighbors gathered at Adamu’s house. Together with his father, the mob began to beat Adamu and his friend with stones, wooden sticks, and iron rods, and dragged them into a courtyard. Some in the mob wanted to report the young men to the police, but others began to argue over how best to punish them: death by burning or beheading. Adamu believed the death threats were real and he remembers being doused with kerosene, and hearing calls to set him on fire.
Adamu eventually entered the United States illegally and as a result, the Department of Homeland Security began proceedings to remove him and return him to Ghana. In the course of removal proceedings, he applied for asylum, among other forms of relief. He claimed that, after having been violently outed, attacked and threatened by his father and neighbors, he fears that he will be killed or otherwise persecuted in Ghana because he is gay.
The immigration judge (“IJ”) denied Adamu’s application concluding that he had not established “past persecution” or a “well-founded fear of future persecution.” The IJ observed that there was no reason to believe that Adamu would not be able to live a full life, especially if he were to continue to keep his homosexuality a secret. Adamu appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”).
The BIA agreed with the IJ’s decision and dismissed the appeal. Though it credited Adamu’s account as credible, the BIA agreed that he had not established “past persecution” or a “well-founded fear or clear probability of future persecution.” Adamu appealed to the US Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit.
The government’s position was that the attack and death threats Adamu suffered were not serious enough to rise to the level of persecution. The Court found it odd for the Government to make this argument considering that Adamu was threatened with death by fire or decapitation while being assaulted and doused with fuel. All that was left for the mob to do was to cut off his head or set him on fire.
Ghanaian law deprives gay men such as Adamu of any meaningful recourse to government protection and that reporting his incident would have been futile and potentially dangerous. Ghana criminalizes same-sex male relationships under the guise of “unnatural carnal knowledge,” defined to include “sexual intercourse with a person in an unnatural manner or with an animal.” The text of this law, equating same-sex male relationships to sex with an animal, is already a clear indication of the government’s official position on gay men. Don’t look for a Gay Pride Parade anytime soon.
The US State Department’s and Amnesty International’s country reports concur that anti-gay discrimination, harassment, and violence are a country-wide human rights problem, due in large part to the fact that same-sex male relationships are criminalized and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (“LGBTI”) persons is not illegal.
The Court concluded that because Adamu suffered past persecution and has a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of his sexual orientation and identity as a gay man, he qualifies as a refugee and vacated the BIA’s decision and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. Great decision!
US Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, No. 18-1342
Adamu Sumaila, Petitioner, v. Attorney General of the United States of America, Respondent.