Eswatini entity criticises Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ law
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MBABANE – Local and international organisations fear that the anti LGBTQ+ Bill recently passed by Ghana’s Parliament is dehumanising and will exacerbate fear and hatred in the country.
Growing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in Ghana has resulted in the country’s Parliament passing a Bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying himself or herself as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
SolidaritY
The Bill is called the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. This has resulted in local and international pro LGBTQ+ rights organisations standing in solidarity with the people of Ghana. This week, Ghana’s Parliament has passed a tough new Bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+. This came about after about three years of deliberations. The BBC reported that the Bill also imposes a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups. The Ghanaian lawmakers heckled down attempts to replace prison sentences with community service and counselling.
It is the latest sign of growing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in the conservative West African nation.
BacKing
The Bill, which had the backing of Ghana’s two major political parties, will come into effect only if President Nana Akufo-Addo signs it into law.
He previously said that he would do so if the majority of Ghanaians want him to.
Gay sex is already against the law in Ghana and it carries a threeyear prison sentence.
Southern Africa Litigation Centre, Civic Rights Programme Manager,
Melusi Simelane said there has been a rise in what they called an anti-rights and anti-gender campaign across the globe.
He said its origins were seemingly American evangelists and extremist conservatives who were hell-bent on undoing the outstanding achievements that have been observed for seven decades since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
AchieVements
He noted that these achievements have only come to fruition in the recent several years for many African countries that had to deal with first undoing the colonial legacies left by the imperial powers. At the same time, he said they were also making headway in advancing the UDHR.
“We have seen this with the fall of colonialism in recent decades across Africa. It has only been very recently that the conversation about the UDHR has taken shape, Simelane pointed out that it was worth noting that the LGBTIQ+ movement was not removed from the broader social justice movement, which was about dignity and humanity for all. He pointed out that the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) as a vehicle to further advance the UDHR, were centred around leaving no one behind.
He said the recent developments in Ghana were a testament to the co-ordinated works of the anti-rights and anti-gender campaigns that sought to take the world back.
“First, the Bill doesn’t achieve anything short of further dehumanising humans based on sexual orientation, which is against resolution 275 of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and, in fact, the African Charter,” he said.
Gratuitous
Simelane said what Ghana, like Uganda, Kenya, Namibia or Eswatini for that matter, did not understand was that laws existed to safeguard children from being exposed to gratuitous content. “So, this is not about protecting children. There has been a debate about these types of laws being about stopping LGBTIQ+ people from committing public indecency, and the reality is that there are
laws that exist to prevent that, too,” he said.
Adding, he said there had never been any sound reason why identity should ever be criminalised and that the criminalisation of identity could be traced back to colonialism.
He said at present, the conservatives and evangelists were continuing the project of imperialism through the anti-rights and anti-gender campaign.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Ghana who will be affected by such legislation should the president give it his assent. It puts lives in danger and prevents citizens from exercising their rights to freedom of expression, as civil societies will be banned from doing advocacy,” said Simelane.
Disenfranchised
He further mentioned that from any perspective, this was a bad law that was meant to de-humanise an already disenfranchised community that had only ever wanted to be counted among the citizens of Africa who could and continue to contribute to the development of the continent.
Simelane said as the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, they continued to support Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities in its efforts to register as an NGO in the country as a matter of principle. He said this was about the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly and without these freedoms, democracy itself was not guaranteed.
Meanwhile, last month Amnesty International warned that the Bill “poses significant threats to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of LGBTQ+ people.
Activists fear there will now be witchhunts against members of the LGBTQ+ community and those who campaign for their rights, and say some will have to go into hiding.
Violence
This was echoed by the head of the United Nations (UN) body tackling Aids, Winnie Byanyima, who said if the Human Sexual rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill becomes a law, it will exacerbate fear and hatred, could incite violence against fellow Ghanaian citizens and will negatively impact on free speech, freedom of movement and freedom of association.
She added that it would obstruct access to life-saving services and jeopardise Ghana’s development success.
The Bill also proposes a jail term of up to 10 years for anyone involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy campaigns aimed at children.
It also encourages the public to report members of the LGBTQ+ community to authorities for necessary action.