Recent months have seen the issue of homosexuality being widely debated in various African member states of the Commonwealth. Uganda’s proposed ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009’, calling for the execution of ‘repeat homosexual offenders’, has been internationally condemned. Late last year, Rwanda came close to criminalising homosexuality for the first time when its penal code was being revised. Meanwhile, an engaged gay couple in Malawi were recently arrested and charged with ‘unnatural offences’. Is homophobia a real problem in the African Commonwealth, thus contradicting the high human-rights standards the association is supposed to uphold?
In an interview with a Kenyan LGBT and human rights activist, the RCS hears the plight of the gay community in Kenya and Uganda and the potential role the Commonwealth could play in alleviating their problems. The interviewee claims she was attacked and ejected by Ugandan police officers from the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, on account of her sexuality.
This conversation-starter is written by Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of EveryChild. For over 25 years, and in over 15 countries around the world, EveryChild has been fighting to protect children without the care of a family, and those at risk of ending up on their own.
Activist Peter Tatchell tells the Commonwealth Conversation that the criminalisation of homosexuality is not consistent with the Commonwealths values of human rights and democracy.
Tatchell gained international celebrity for his attempted citizens arrest of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in 1999 and 2001 on charges of torture and other human rights abuses.
This post is taken from an article written by R. Iniyan Ilango, a consultant with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The full article is found here.
He writes that, despite almost every CHOGM since the 1970s making a strong commitment to human rights, the association has consistently failed to fulfil its promises: Continue reading…
In an article published on Tuesday 20th October 2009, in Caribbean Net News, Maja Daruwala, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has called for CMAG reform to be top of the agenda at the Trinidad CHOGM. CMAG is the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group – the Commonwealth watchdog on human rights abuses.
Today, CMAG must be able to deal quickly and unequivocally with situations of constant threats to human rights values by Commonwealth states and open challenges encapsulated in statements like the latest one by President Jammeh of the Gambia where he is unequivocal in his opposition to the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values when he declares on the eve of his departure to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting:
“I will kill anyone, who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my Government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.”
While CMAG has its share of successes, lately there have instances where it has not lived up to expectations. For example in the case of Sri Lanka, reports of large scale civilian deaths, impunity and stifling of human rights in Sri Lanka continued to emerge throughout 2008 and 2009 but CMAG has refused to put Sri Lanka in its agenda. The additional irony is that Sri Lanka itself continues to serve as a member of CMAG during this period for a third consecutive (two year) term contrary to the 1999 Durban Communiqué that limits a country to a maximum of two consecutive terms.
CMAG has also been silent on other parts of the Commonwealth, for instance during the post election violence in Kenya in 2007, when freedom of assembly was curtailed in Malaysia in 2007, and for a long while on the Gambia where many basic human rights are heavily curtailed.
It is worrying to note that the CMAG has by and by interpreted its mandate very narrowly to focus only on the un-constitutional overthrow of governments albeit selectively. While my organisation welcomes the recent suspension of Fiji from the Commonwealth as well as the earlier suspension of Pakistan in 2007, CMAG’s non-action on Bangladesh when there was an army backed government in 2006 has left political activists and civil society organisations monitoring CMAG meetings wondering about its yardsticks.
This post is written by Joel Simpson, Co-Chairperson of Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination.
Most of the countries of the Commonwealth still criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex and other forms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. These laws, introduced in most Commonwealth countries in the 18th century, are heritage of the colonial period, as recently highlighted by the High Court of Delhi, India, in the judgment that struck down section 377 of the Indian penal code punishing sexual activities ‘against the order of nature.’
This contribution is written by a Gambian journalist living in exile. He was forced to flee his country in July 2007 after being chased by the country’s intelligence services.
The recent imprisonment of six journalists including a nursing mother of eight-month-old baby in the Gambia is indeed a stark reminder to the fact that press freedom is under siege in the tiny West African nation.
On August 6th 2009, a Gambian High Court slammed 4-year-jail term against the journalists after the trial that many people believed was highly influenced by President Yahya Jammeh and his government. The journalists’ only crime was to issue and run a press release that the government argued defamed President Jammeh.
Relations between Gambian government and journalists especially those holding opposing/critical views are not cordial to say the least. President Jammeh and his officials continue to intimidate, harass and persecute such media practitioners leading to climate of fear. Among the many press freedom violations and attacks against journalists are the following:
Unresolved murder cases: The December 2004 cold-blooded murder of Deyda Hydara, the former managing editor of Banjul-based ‘Point’ newspaper, remains unresolved. The killers are still at large and there is yet to be any serious investigations into the matter for over four years now. Another case involving journalist Omar Barrow who was gunned down in April 2000 along with 12 protesting students also remained unresolved.
Disappearance: Chief Ebrima Manneh a reporter with ‘Daily Observer’ newspaper has been missing since July 2006. Rights groups said he was kidnapped by agents of Gambia?s notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
Wrongful arrests/detentions: These are now part of the daily struggle for journalists in the Gambia. Scores of them have been arrested, detained and in many cases subjected to torture and degrading conditions. Among those recently arrested and detained are – Pap Saine, (Managing editor) and Modou Sanyang, (senior reporter) of ‘Point newspaper’ as well as Halifa Sallah, of privately-owned ‘Foroyaa’ newspaper.
Exiled Journalists: Many journalists including the author of this report have been forced into exile. In July 2007, I was chased and harassed by agents of Gambia’s notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA) forcing me to flee my home country and thereby joining a long list of Gambian exiled journalists. As a journalist in exile some of us have faced many problems such as lack of security /protection, the risk of being pursued by government agents, as well as all sorts of family problems resulting from disconnect
What the Commonwealth should do: I expect and call on the Commonwealth to do more by intervening in the unfortunate Gambian situation with a view to getting government change its negative attitude and policies towards the media. Commonwealth should further assist in getting Gambian authorities respect press freedom and human rights in general as well as find ways of assisting the many journalists who have been forced into exiled and are suffering as a result of their work and belief in press freedom and freedom of expression in general.
The reasons put forward by Bainimarama for carrying out his 2006 coup provide a good parallel of Fiji’s post-coup state of instability. His justifications have been wandering all over Fiji’s political landscape and represent the height of insincerity.
Kaye Whiteman, a writer and journalist and former Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat says more needs to be done to prevent abuse of media freedoms in the Commonwealth.
Following on my ’starter’ on July 30, let me go into greater detail on the matter of freedom of expression, one area in which the Commonwealth could engage to sharpen its somewhat bland image. I am aware that, for an organisation which is an association of states, and therefore of governments, this poses a number of problems, but we also have to be mindful that it is a ‘Commonwealth of peoples’.
The Commonwealth played an exceptional role in furthering the political emancipation of both Zimbabwe and South Africa in the last quarter of the 20th century, which highlighted its unique qualities and potential as an international agent of freedom. It was a role that led directly to the Harare Declaration of 1991 on democracy and human rights: the fine words on Southern Africa had to have a more universal application if the Commonwealth was to continue to be taken seriously.
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Recent months have seen the issue of homosexuality being widely debated in various African member states of the Commonwealth. Uganda’s proposed ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009’, calling for the execution of ‘repeat homosexual offenders’, has been internationally condemned. Late last year, Rwanda came close to criminalising homosexuality for the first time when its penal code was being revised. Meanwhile, an engaged gay couple in Malawi were recently arrested and charged with ‘unnatural offences’. Is homophobia a real problem in the African Commonwealth, thus contradicting the high human-rights standards the association is supposed to uphold?
In an article published on Tuesday 20th October 2009, in Caribbean Net News, Maja Daruwala, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has called for CMAG reform to be top of the agenda at the Trinidad CHOGM. CMAG is the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group – the Commonwealth watchdog on human rights abuses. 
Most of the countries of the Commonwealth still criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex and other forms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. These laws, introduced in most Commonwealth countries in the 18th century, are heritage of the colonial period, as recently highlighted by the High Court of Delhi, India, in the judgment that struck down section 377 of the Indian penal code punishing sexual activities ‘against the order of nature.’
On the day Fiji is fully suspended from the Commonwealth
Kaye Whiteman, a writer and journalist and former Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat says more needs to be done to prevent abuse of media freedoms in the Commonwealth.
