Cleary Gottlieb won protection for pro bono client Ms. A, who fled Cameroon in January 2003 after suffering persecution at the hands of Cameroonian authorities on account of her involvement with the Social Democratic Front, a dissident political party. On October 11, U.S. Immigration Judge Garry D. Malphrus approved a settlement negotiated by Cleary Gottlieb with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security under which Ms. A will be entitled to remain in the United States rather than being forced to return to Cameroon.
According to Ms. A’s application for asylum, the Cameroonian government targeted her and her husband because they participated in activities organized by the Social Democratic Front, including marches protesting electoral fraud. After two separate attacks by the Cameroonian gendarmerie, Ms. A went into hiding for more than a year before she was able to escape to the United States.
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs referred Ms. A’s case to the firm.