BONELA punches holes in the Constitution

Botswana Network on Ethics, Law & HIV/ AIDS ( BONELA) is worried that Botswana still has discriminatory and punitive laws, policies, and practices that create barriers to access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for all people, including vulnerable and key populations.

Executive Director at BONELA, Cindy Kelemi says while they applaud the president for the inclusion of people with disability in the constitutional review commission, they wish that some matters could be scrutinised further.

“Botswana has many laws, policies, and programmes that protect the rights of all people and promote access to health care and other services, including in the context of HIV. Botswana’s Constitution protects the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all people, including the rights to nondiscrimination, privacy, liberty, the rights to freedom of expression and association, and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment,” says Kelemi.

BONELA recalls that, in 2017, UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, developed the Legal Environmental Assessment ( 2017) with the view to assess laws, regulations and policy guidelines, awareness of rights and access to justice as well as law enforcement in the context of HIV, AIDS, and TB.

Kelemi says, it is essential for the government to also consider taking further action to ensure full implementation and enforcement of laws protecting the right to gender equality and the rights of children and youth, as well as addressing existing barriers through provision in law including through; ‘ review, with a view towards removing or repealing Section 15( 4)( c) of the Constitution which restricts the right to gender equality and provision in law for the specific prohibition of marital rape’.

Kelemi says that in accordance with Botswana Constitution, Regional and International human rights commitments, public health, and human rights evidence, some recommendations were prioritised and considered to strengthen human rights protections and to end AIDS by 2030. These include; removal or amendment of the restrictive provisions of Section 15, subsection 4( c) which severely restricts, inter alia, the right to gender equality, prohibition of discrimination on the basis of HIV and health status to strengthen the legal protection of people living with HIV and TB, the inclusion of the right to health and inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights for all persons.