Dokument #1196106
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Information on these specifics subjects is
limited among the sources consulted by the Research
Directorate.
For background information on homosexuals
in Cuba since 1984, please consult Responses to Information
Requests CUB26736.E of 25 April 1997 and CUB14841.E of 13 August
1993, as well as the April 1996 Question and Answer Series document
entitled Cuba: The Human Rights Situation, all available
in Regional Documentation Centres.
According to a 27 August 1997 IPS report,
homosexuality was sufficient grounds for refusing an individual
into entering specific university programs. A 21 October 1994
San Francisco Chronicle report states that gays were often
expelled from universities for decades. Both reports refer to this
discrimination based on sexual orientation as a practice of the
past (IPS 27 Aug. 1997; San Francisco Chronicle 21 Oct.
1994).
Please note that the 27 August 1997 IPS
report states that, as a result of Penal Code reforms that were put
into effect on 25 August 1997, "no crime will be conditioned by the
sexual inclination or gender of the implicated individuals."
Information on the situation of homosexuals
who wish to obtain employment in the tourism industry or travel
abroad on behalf of their employers could not be found among the
sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the
list of sources consulted in researching this Information
Request.
References
Inter Press Service (IPS). 27 August
1997. Dalia Acosta. "Cuba-Rights: Homosexuals Charge Homophobia
Over Closure of Gay Bar." (NEXIS)
The San Francisco Chronicle. 21
October 1994. Final Edition. John Otis. "Coming Out in Cuba For
Cuba's Gays, Repression Is Past." (NEXIS)
Attachments
Inter Press Service (IPS). 27 August
1997. Dalia Acosta. "Cuba-Rights: Homosexuals Charge Homophobia
Over Closure of Gay Bar." (NEXIS)
The San Francisco Chronicle. 21
October 1994. Final Edition. John Otis. "Coming Out in Cuba For
Cuba's Gays, Repression Is Past." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report.
1994-1997.
Cuba: A Country Study.
1987.
Human Rights Watch World
Report. 1996-1997.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). October 1995.
Improvements without Reforms.
IGLHRC Action Alert [San
Francisco]. 1993-1997.
ILGA Bulletin [Brussels].
1993-1997.
INS Resource Center. June 1995.
Information Packet Series: Human Rights in Cuba.
Latinamerica Press [Lima].
1990-1997.
Latin American Weekly Report
[London]. 1996-1997.
News from Americas Watch [New
York]. 1990-1997.
One oral source did not provide
information on the above-mentioned subject.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases,
Global News Bank, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News
Connection (WNC).