ROACHES MAGAZINE
Issue No. 02
cant is a member of a particular social group, and illuminates the larger problems of identity. Kwasi Amanfi is a man from Ghana who, due to his father’s religious affiliations, was kidnapped and tortured by a cult by the name of “macho men.” Drawing from his knowledge of cult ritual practices, which he was lucky enough to learn from his grandfather, he feared the “macho men” were going to use him as human sacrifice for their religious ritual. Amanfi knew of one thing which would make him ineligible for human sacrifice: engaging in homosexual sex. During the macho men’s purification process, Amanfi was trapped in the same room as a man named Kojo. To save their lives, the men initiated homosexual behavior and were caught by their captors. The macho men beat them before bringing them to the police station, where they informed the officers that these men were homosexuals. Afterwards, the police drew a large crowd to share amongst the public audience that these men were homosexuals. Amanfi and Kojo were stripped naked and feared attacks. The men endured daily beatings by the police, and when Kojo eventually died a policeman “stepped on his testicles” (Kwasi Amanfi v. John Ashcroft) as the final act of castration. On an election day in Ghana, after more than two months in police custody, Amanfi found his opportunity to escape. With help from his cousin, he was able to procure the finances and documents, including an illegal Canadian passport, that he needed to flee the country. He flew into JFK Airport in New York City where he was subsequently stopped by border control. He had hoped to travel through New York as a layover to Canada, his intended destination to apply for asylum. Due to the interruption, he opened a case in the 58
United States asking for asylum based on his imputed membership to the social group of LGBT people. The IJ found discrepancies between Amanfi’s testimonies, so he denied the asylum application and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) based on credibility. The IJ also took issue with the lack of evidence the petitioner submitted that would prove the practice of human sacrifice in Ghana. The BIA dismissed Amanfi’s appeal on the basis that he did not qualify as one of the five recognized groups that could claim refugee status. In other words, Amanfi cannot be a member of a particular social group, homosexual, because he does not identify as a homosexual. The definition of the particular social group that sets immutability as the determining factor: “[W] hatever the common characteristic that defines the group, it must be one that the members of the group either cannot change, or should not be required to change because it is fundamental to their individual identities or consciences” (Blake). In contrast with Razkane v. Holder, whose case was denied on the basis that he lacked contact with other gay men and his stereotypically ‘straight’ demeanor, the BIA denied Amanfi asylum because he did not consider himself gay and therefore, the BIA reasoned, cannot be considered a part of the social group. Even though the petitioner was incredibly well known (ie visible) by government officials for his homosexual acts. Razkane can have identity without the act, whereas Amanfi has the act without the identity. According to the BIA, membership to a social group of sexual minorities is based on how one iden-