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.

On the plight of the gay community in Kenya and Uganda and what the future holds

“There is a lot of homophobia within Kenya and Uganda. The Kenyan and Ugandan constitutions explicitly criminalise same-sex relationships and sexual encounters. In Kenya you can get fourteen years in prison. There is a lot of resistance. What we have managed to achieve so far is the integration of public health services for gay men, and slowly now incorporating gay women; so on reproductive rights, they are slowly trying to recognise and acknowledge the rights of LGBTI persons. But on issues of the legal context, there hasn’t been any fundamental change.

I like to believe it is only a matter of time before we can have the sodomy laws repealed, and the reality on the ground is that Kenya is currently going through a constitutional review process and civil society has tried as much as possible to highlight the plight of homosexuals. It’s a long process, but as much as we’ve been struggling, there have been opportunities to continuously create visibility on issues of LGBTI persons in Kenya. At the end of the day, there is so much resistance that the amount of work we put in, no matter how much it is, is still pushed back by the extent of homophobia informed by religion and culture and just by ignorance of issues of sexuality.”

On the potential role of the Commonwealth in the sphere of LGBTI Rights

“The Commonwealth as an international organisation should be a space where all these issues are highlighted and given the same hearing. The discussion of violations of human rights of LGBTI persons and women in the Commonwealth, is something that needs to go beyond just recognising the vulnerability of that woman, to securing safety for the promotion of women’s human rights.

I think also that the Commonwealth should take it upon itself to have an easier format for understanding its processes. For grass-roots activists, it seems like such a puzzle to work with the Commonwealth. We don’t understand what the entities are, what the structures are, we don’t understand the procedures of working with the Commonwealth.

I think it is very important that the Commonwealth, as well as the reaching out to civil-society networks it already does, builds capacity and assists on the ground to make it easier to report human-rights violations.”

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.

Transcript:

Over 70 countries still criminalise homosexuality in all circumstances, with penalties ranging from a few years jail to life imprisonment and even execution.

More than half of these countries are members of the Commonwealth, and their anti-gay laws were originally imposed on those nations during the period of British colonial rule. They are not authentic national laws, they are imposed by imperialism.

I find it very strange that these now independent nations have retained the anti-gay laws that were imposed upon them by their former colonial masters. That is not consistent with national sovereignty and independence.

It?s also quite shocking that these countries have these homophobic laws because the Commonwealth is committed to democracy and human rights.

Persecuting and discriminating against citizens because of their sexuality or gender identification is not consistent with human rights. Moreover, all of these countries have signed international human rights declarations, pledging to observe equal treatment and non-discrimination. And those international instruments do not discriminate. They say that everyone in every country is entitled to equal rights and protection against discrimination.

Yet, in so many Commonwealth countries, we find that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are consistently and often viciously persecuted.

In a country like Uganda, male homosexuality is punishable by life imprisonment. In Nigeria it’s 14 years hard labour. And in the Islamic areas gay people can be stoned to death. In Jamaica it’s 10 years hard labour. In Malaysia it’s up to 20 years imprisonment.

These laws are all relics of colonialism. They are from the 19^th century. They have no place in a modern 21^st century state - and I just hope the Commonwealth will recognise that action needs to be taken so that all its member states conform to the principles or democracy and human rights. That they all give their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens full equality before the law.

We are not saying they should approve of homosexuality; we are not saying they should endorse, or encourage it - we are simply saying do not persecute your gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens.

Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay, Director and Founder of the House Of Rainbow has responded to Tatchell’s comments:

To coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago – Peter Tatchell has written an open letter to the Commonwealth Secretary General, lamenting the state of LGBTI rights in the Commonwealth.

Your Excellency,

Warmest greetings!

I am writing to inquire what the Commonwealth is doing to defend the human rights of millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Commonwealth citizens who are sufffering great persecution on account of their sexuality and gender variance and identity.

Sadly, I can find no evidence that senior Commonwealth leaders are doing anything significant and public, despite the fact that many Commonwealth member states are actively persecuting their LGBT citizens with oppressive, discriminatory laws, which result in grave human rights violations, including arrest, torture, rape, imprisonment and extra-judicial murder.

This homophobic and transphobic persecution is in breach of international humanitarian law.

As Comonwealth Secretary-General, you are entrusted to defend and promote the Commonwealth’s humanitarian values.

What action do you propose to take at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago from 27 to 29 November, to address the issue of homophobic and transphobic persecution by Commonwealth member states?

I appeal to you to take a stand for justice and equality – to show true leadership and make your mark for human rights.

During your keynote speech, and in other CHOGM forums, I respectfully request you to:

1. Make it clear that the Commonwealth’s commitment to human rights includes respect for the human rights of LGBT people, and that persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity violates the Commonwealth principles of equality and non-discrimination and violates the principles of universal human rights, as enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

2. Call on Commonwealth member states to end the criminalisation of homosexuality, protect LGBT people against discrimination, harassment and violence, and recognise and consult with LGBT welfare and human rights organisations.

In particular, I request you to lobby the government of Uganda to withdraw the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill and cease its attacks on the human rights of LGBT Ugandans.

I regret that I need to make these requests. I realise that you have not been long in your post. But I hope that having had these issues drawn to your attention you will rise to the challenge and pursue them.

Some of the key principles of the Commonwealth are equality, non-discrimination, opportunity for all, liberty of the individual and human dignity.
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/191247/the_commonwealth/
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/files/36123/FileName/harare.pdf

In the case of LGBT people, these principles are routinely violated by nearly all Commonwealth countries. They are violated with impunity and without rebuke by the leaders of the Commonwealth.

I am surprised that the Commonwealth’s most senior figures, such as yourself, are not, as far as I know, doing anything serious to dissuade the many member states which continue to outlaw consenting adult same-sex relations, which take no action against homophobic and transphobic violence, which deny gay and bisexual men safer sex education and HIV advice, and which fail to give LGBT people protection against discrimination in jobs, housing, education, health care and provision of good and services.

It is extremely disappointing that the Commonwealth leadership appears to not regard LGBT rights as human rights and that it has neglected to protect LGBT citizens in the Commonwealth family of nations. This inaction is de facto collusion with victimisation.

Around 80 countries worldwide continue to outlaw homosexuality, with penalties ranging from one year’s jail to life imprisonment – and even execution. More than half of these countries were former British colonies. Most are members of the Commonwealth.

Of the 53 Commonwealth member states, over 40 still criminalise same-sex relations, mostly under anti-gay laws that were originally imposed by the British government in the nineteenth century, during the period of colonial rule. These homophobic colonialist laws, which were retained after independence, are wrecking the lives of LGBT people throughout the Commonwealth. They criminalise otherwise law-abiding citizens and contribute to a hostile social atmosphere which demonises LGBT people as unnatural, abnormal and criminal. This renders LGBT people liable to blackmail, imprisonment, mob violence, rejection by their families, excommunication from their faith, eviction from their homes, dismissal from their jobs and this makes them high risk for depression, mental illness and suicide. Such rampant bigotry and ill-treatment of other human beings is a stain on the Commonwealth.

One of the worst current examples of a homophobic Commonwealth country is Uganda.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, currently under consideration by the Ugandan parliament, proposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality…(and) serial offenders,” including same-sex acts involving people with HIV.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/697859

It imposes a sentence of life imprisonment for merely touching a person with the intent to have homosexual relations. Membership of gay organisations and funding for them, advocacy of gay human rights and the provision of condoms or safer sex advice to gay people will result in up to seven years jail for “promoting” homosexuality. Failing to report violators to the police within 24 hours will incur three years behind bars. Astonishingly, the new legislation will also apply to Ugandans who commit these ‘crimes’ while living abroad, in countries where such behaviour is not a criminal offence.

See this appeal against the bill by Human Rights Watch and other human rights defenders:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/15/uganda-anti-homosexuality-bill-threatens-liberties-and-human-rights-defenders

See this briefing by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission:
http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/globalactionalerts/989.html

The Ugandan bill violates the equality and non-discrimination provisions of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Uganda is a signatory. These breaches of international humanitarian commitments set a dangerous precedent which undermines the right to privacy and to individual liberty and thereby threatens the human rights of all Ugandans.
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been condemned by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists and the World AIDS Campaign.

This legislation is, however, merely the latest in a series of state-sponsored persecutions of LGBT Ugandans, often at the behest of Christian leaders who are aided and funded by right-wing evangelical churches in the US.

Typical is what happened to gay rights advocate Kizza Musinguzi. He was jailed in 2004 and subjected to four months of forced labour, water torture, beatings and rape.

Any Ugandan who speaks out against anti-gay violence faces dire consequences. A heterosexual Anglican bishop, Christopher Ssenyonjo, was expelled from the Church of Uganda for defending the human rights of LGBT people.

In recent years, the Ugandan government has passed a law banning same-sex civil marriage, fined Radio Simba for broadcasting a discussion of LGBT issues, and expelled a UN AIDS agency director for meeting with LGBT campaigners.

Similar homophobic persecution is happening in other Commonwealth nations, including Nigeria and The Gambia, where President Yahya Jammeh has called for sexual cleansing. He has promised “stricter laws than Iran” on homosexuality, and has begun his witchunt by ordering gay people to leave the country and threatening to “cut off the head” of any homosexual who remains. It is truly shocking that the Commonwealth leadership has not condemned such murderous threats.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7416536.stm

While I realise that you are very busy, I would be most grateful if you could respond to my appeal for your intervention before the commencement of CHOGM.

Wishing you a successful CHOGM.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Tatchell

OutRage! – The LGBT Human Rights Campaign – London, UK

Human Rights Spokesperson for the Green Party of England & Wales

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 18^th 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.’

In 1994 the Human Rights Committee in Toonen v. Australia established that such kind of criminal provisions violate the principle of non discrimination and the right to privacy as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, therefore constituting a violation of basic human rights as recognized by international law.

Similarly, other criminal provisions introduced in the same period by the colonial power punish non-normative expression of gender, such as provisions criminalizing cross-dressing, as exists in Guyana, for example, where there was a series of crackdowns against male-to-female transgender persons for cross-dressing in February of this year. In some countries, despite national and international campaigns on non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression by human rights activists, further legislatures and laws are being introduced to criminalize non-normative behaviors and identities.

As human rights activists have witnessed in the recent years, these provisions have constituted the pretext for any form of human rights violation based on individuals real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, such as arbitrary arrests, police abuses, infringement of the right to fair trial, limitation to the right to freedom of association and assembly, inhuman and degrading treatment, among others. Such laws have been proven to negatively impact HIV/AIDS education and prevention.

Crackdowns against individuals, human rights activists or civil society organizations in several Commonwealth countries further raise concerns in terms of respect of individuals’ human rights and freedom of association, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

What do you think the role of the Commonwealth should be in ensuring that fundamental human rights of every individual are protected and to redress a sensitive issue that, for historical reasons, mostly affects Commonwealth countries?