Human Rights Watch (HRW) today condemned the decision by Ghana’s Supreme Court to uphold a “colonial-era” anti-LGBTBI bill currently being debated in the African country.
“Regrettably, Ghana’s Supreme Court has upheld the British colonial legacy of criminalizing so-called ‘unnatural relationships,’” said HRW’s LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex) rights director, Rasha Younes, according to a statement released by the human rights organization.
HRW was referring to a ruling last week by Ghana’s Supreme Court, which dismissed a lawsuit seeking to withdraw the controversial law, arguing that it violated constitutional rights to privacy and personal freedoms.
“Rights that all people also have under international law, and regardless of their sexual orientation,” Younes said.
In response to a lawsuit filed by University of Ghana law professor Prince Obiri-Korang, the court decided to uphold the text, which awaits final signature by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.
“The Supreme Court of Ghana has missed an opportunity to free the country from its foreign legacy of atrocious colonial-era laws,” Younes lamented.
In a country where the Penal Code – which dates back to the colonial period – criminalizes “unnatural carnal knowledge,” this law would increase prison sentences to up to ten years for anyone involved in LGBTI activism campaigns targeting children, a term so vague that it is unclear whether it would even include sex education in schools.
The bill also imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone who identifies as a member of the LGBTI community and up to five years for anyone who forms or funds LGBTI groups, and encourages citizens to report homosexual practices of their neighbors to the authorities.
Ghana’s bill, condemned by the UN and countries including the United States, is part of a recent escalation of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in Africa, where more than 30 of the world’s at least 65 countries criminalize same-sex relationships.
Violence against LGBTI people is prevalent in the West African country, and persecution has increased in recent years. Prominent figures in Ghana have publicly opposed the law, including Catholic Cardinal Peter Turkson and former MP Samia Nkrumah, the former president of the socialist Convention People’s Party (CPP).
