Ghana woman fearing mutilation wins US court ruling

NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has ruled that a Ghanaian woman fighting deportation had shown that her fears of genital mutilation were ``grounded in reality'' and reversed a ruling denying her asylum in the United States.

The federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that Adelaide Abankwah, 29, provided convincing evidence that her fear of genital cutting as punishment for having had premarital sex with a boyfriend ``is objectively reasonable.''

``A reading of Abankwah's testimony in its entirety ... reveals that Abankwah's fear that she will be mutilated is based on her knowledge of and experience with the customs of her tribe,'' the Second Circuit said in a ruling made public on Monday.

``Abankwah's position is particularly compelling in light of the general conditions present in Ghana.''

The court said that although the government of Ghana criminalized genital mutilation in 1994, the number of prosecutions have been insignificant. It said there have been only seven arrests for the crime since 1994.

In its ruling the appeals court reversed immigration courts' findings that Abankwah was not eligible for asylum and it remanded the case to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further proceedings based on its decision.

Abankwah has never been charged with a crime but has been held in detention since she arrived in the United States in March 1997.

``It is great news and we are really grateful to the Second Circuit. It's unfortunate though she has had to wait so long for this,'' said Jessica Neuwirth, president of Equality Now, an international women's rights group that campaigned on behalf of Abankwah.

``She is still in detention and we don't know when she will be released.''

Abankwah's case was appealed to the Second Circuit after numerous hearings before an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service had decided that women could claim genital mutilation as a form of persecution and seek asylum in the United States.

But, although the immigration courts believed that Abankwah's fears were real, they held that she had not proven that she would be mutilated if she returned to Ghana.

The decision followed widespread publicity over another genital cutting case, that of Fauziya Kassindja who fled Togo in 1994 to avoid mutilation. Kassindja had been detained for more than a year while her case was pending.

Abankwah was born into a small tribe in central Ghana. Her mother was designated the tribe's ``queen mother,'' leading religious rituals and setting rules for other women.

After her mother died in 1996, Abankwah was chosen by tribe elders to become the next queen mother. Abankwah, who had had sex with a boyfriend, refused. She also refused to perform rituals intended to determine if she was a virgin or enter into an arranged marriage.

In certain tribes, genital mutilation is performed on all girls. In Abankwah's case, it was threatened as a punishment and she fled the country.