The following is an action called for by Amnesty International USA's Government Action Network and is posted here by Amnesty International Members for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (AIMLGC). For more information about this action, write: Amnesty International USA's Government Action Network, 304 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003. For information about AIMLGC, send email to: aimlgc, PeaceNet, (or aimlgc@igc.org, on other networks). Postal mail can be sent to: AIMLGC, P.O. Box 8293, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-8293. ********************************************** U.S. Violates Rights of HIV-Positive Refugees November 12, 1992 -- The United States Government is currently holding 240 Haitian asylum seekers plus 38 other family members in quarantine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. These refugees have tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Each one has also been judged twice to have a significant claim for the protection of the United States due to fear of persecution by security forces or their allies in Haiti. These 240 men and women and their dependents are not being allowed to pursue their claims of asylum because current U.S. policy calls for refuges with HIV to be excluded from the country. Although Dr. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services, called in January 1991 for this policy to be changed, the Bush administration has not taken any action to do so. U.S. policy allows for a waiver to be granted in the U.S. embassy of a refugee's home country. The waiver, however, is not practical nor safe for refugees who have fled their country, apparently m,any with a well-founded fear of persecution. In addition, most of these Haitians were likely unaware of their HIV status until they reached Guantanamo. Amnesty International believes that this U.S. action violates the basic human rights of people to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution (Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Please write to William Bar, the Attorney General of the United States, and please send a copy of your letter to June Osborn, the chair of President Bush's National Commission on AIDS. Urge Mr. Barr to allow HIV-positive Haitians in Guantanamo to enter the United States and pursue their claims for political asylum. It would be especially appropriate for the Bush administration to grant this before President Bush's term in office expires in January. WRITE: The Honorable William Barr Attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice 10th and Constitution NW Room 4400 Washington, DC 20530 Fax: 202-514-4371 CC: June Osborn Chair National Commission on AIDS 1720 K Street NW Room 815 Washington, DC 20006 Fax: 202-254-3060 Redirect the Power of Government for Human Rights!