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(Nairobi) – Supreme Court Ghana July 24, 2024 support A Colonial-era law The bill criminalizes consensual same-sex conduct between adults and violates Ghana’s human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. Dangerously anti-LGBT This law will further exacerbate the persecution of sexual and gender minorities and their allies.
“It is unfortunate that Ghana’s Supreme Court has upheld the British colonial legacy of criminalizing so-called ‘unnatural sexual acts,'” Lasha Younisinterim lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The law has been challenged on the basis that it infringes upon constitutionally protected rights to privacy and personal liberties, which are enjoyed by everyone under international law, regardless of sexual orientation.”
The Ghanaian Constitution ensures respect for human dignity and the protection of personal liberty and the right to privacy for all. However, Violence against LGBT people is widespreadand The persecution continues to escalate There has been much debate over the bill in recent years.
Prince Obiri-Korang, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana, filed a lawsuit to overturn the law. Under section 104(1)(b) of the Criminal Code 1989, Ghana Criminal Law Act No. 29 of 1960 inherited British colonial law and states that “any person who, with the consent of a person of 16 years of age or over, has unnatural carnal intercourse with that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.” Section 104(1)(2) defines unnatural carnal intercourse as “carnal intercourse with another person or with an animal in an unnatural manner.” The Supreme Court judge said that “unnatural manner” also includes the use of sex toys.
With this ruling, the Court has broadened its interpretation of Section 104(1)(b) to adopt an anti-LGBT The Promotion of Appropriate Human Sexual Rights and Family Values in Ghana Bill, 2021 Article 4 explicitly prohibits any person from engaging in any act that undermines normal human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values.
In 2017, Human Rights Watch was studying the impact of the law, and Ghana’s police commissioner, Jones Brantari, Tell Human Rights Watch“The term unnatural sexual intercourse is vague, has no clear legal meaning, is difficult to interpret consistently, and is intended to be applied to LGBT people.”
The bill increases criminal penalties for homosexual conduct from three to five years in prison and expands the possibility of bringing criminal charges against anyone who identifies as LGBT, queer, pansexual or any other non-traditional gender identity, as well as allies of those groups. It would also penalize anyone who provides support, funding or public advocacy for the rights of sexual and gender minorities.
In addition to expanding the possibility of criminal charges against those who advocate for LGBT rights, the bill, introduced by lawmakers in 2021, also allows for criminal charges to be brought against anyone who uses a social media platform to produce, publish or disseminate content that promotes activities prohibited by the bill.
Prominent figures in Ghana have spoken out against the bill, including Ghana’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Peter Turksonand former members of Congress and chairmen of major political parties. Samia Nkrumah.Nkrumah Urge the President Veto anti-LGBT bills, Call it “Cruel, harsh, unjust.” Nkrumah’s father, the late Kwame Nkrumah, was a key figure in African and Ghanaian history. He led the independence movement in the 1950s and 1960s and served as the country’s first president and prime minister.
The Ghanaian Parliament passed Stringent laws In February 2024, the bill still goes to President Nana Akufo-Addo for signature.
“Ghana’s Supreme Court missed the mark in freeing the country from Alien Legacy “This is a desecration of a nasty colonial-era law. The courts’ failure to uphold the fundamental rights of LGBT people further underscores why the president should veto this new bill,” Younis said.
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