CHRI Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

New Delhi, India. London, UK. Accra, Ghana NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations

20 Director Maja Daruwala International Advisory Commission: Yashpal Ghai - Chairperson Members: Alison Duxbury Neville Linton Vivek Maru Edward Mortimer Sam Okudzeto B.G. Verghese Maja Daruwala Executive Committee (India):e B.G. Verghese - Chairperson Members: B. K. Chandrashekar Nitin Desai Wajahat Habibullah Harivansh Sanjoy Hazarika Kamal Kumar Poonam Muttreja Ruma Pal A.P. Shah Maja Daruwala Executive Committee (Ghana): Sam Okudzeto Chairperson Members: Akoto Ampaw Neville Linton B.G. Verghese Maja Daruwala Executive Committee (UK): Neville Linton Chairperson Members: Richard Bourne Meenakshi Dhar Derek Ingram Claire Martin Syed Sharfuddin Joe Silva Michael Stone Sally-Ann Wilson

CHRI calls for protection of LGBT rights across the Commonwealth

4 February 2014 The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative welcomes the recent statement by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, calling for respect on sexual orientation and gender identity. Across the Commonwealth the denial of rights to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) communities is a significant concern, with consensual same-sex adult sexual conduct being illegal in 80 per cent of the Commonwealth member states. Anti-LGBT laws, whether they are enforced or not, entrench homophobia and reinforce prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This discrimination, accompanied with pervasive stigma, negatively impacts on the realisation of human rights for the LGBT community. CHRI fears that, in these countries, incidents of harassment and violence against LGBT people and human rights defenders are on the increase and those responsible are often not held accountable. CHRI highlights concerning developments in Commonwealth countries below. India On 11 December 2013, one day after International Human Rights Day, the Supreme Court of India overturned the celebrated 2009 Delhi High Court judgment Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi, which had declared Indias law prohibiting sexual acts against the order of nature unconstitutional in relation to consensual adults. On 28 January 2014, the Supreme Court refused to admit a review petition filed by the central government and certain human rights activists to review its decision on the case. Vivek Anand, director of the Mumbai-based LGBT Rights organisation Humsafar Trust, said that after the 2009 High Court judgment the LGBT community had felt safe in public, but now there is a climate of fear and anxiety. In fact, on the day of the judgment, one of the Humsafar outreach centres reported acts of violence against members of the transgender community. Sri Lanka The current chair of the Commonwealth has been accused of being involved in targeting Sri Lankan politician Mangala Samaraweera for breaking the countrys sodomy laws. Homosexuality is still criminalised in Sri Lanka, and carries a maximum twelve year prison sentence. Samaraweera claims that the law, which is rarely enforced, is being used to punish him for moving away from the ruling political party. This highlights the ability of such laws to be used as tools to harass and threaten people. The Indian and Sri Lankan laws, like those still on the books elsewhere in the Commonwealth, are remnants of the colonial era. These laws must be revised and amended to legalise consensual relations between people of the same sex in private. CHRI calls on Parliamentarians and government officials in India and Sri Lanka to initiate legislative reforms. Nigeria In Nigeria, where homosexual sex is also criminalised, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013, effectively banning gay marriage, same-sex partnerships, public demonstrations of affection between same sex couples and participation in gay rights groups. CHRI condemns this repressive law, which provides for severe punishments for offences, as a violation of the rights enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has condemned the new law as a piece of legislation that in so few paragraphs directly

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violates so many basic, universal human rights. CHRI urges the government and the Parliament to repeal this legislation since it violates the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Uganda In Uganda, the repressive Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 was passed by the Ugandan Parliament in December 2013. Under this Bill, those convicted of aggravated homosexuality can be jailed for life, as can same sex couples that get married. Additionally, promotion of homosexuality is a crime, teachers and parents are required to report LGBT children or face penalties and landlords are banned from providing lodging to LGBT individuals. Although homosexual sex is already a criminal offence in Uganda that carries a maximum life sentence, this Bill significantly increases the number of offences on the basis of sexuality, as well as the penalties. In its original form, the Bill instituted the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality; however this section was reportedly removed from the Bill that passed the Parliament. Since no copy of the revised Bill is publicly available there is uncertainty regarding this provision. The Bill has been blocked by President Museveni. Gay rights activist Frank Mugisha has noted that his organisation, Sexual Minorities Uganda, has registered an increased number of complaints of verbal and physical attacks and arrests against LGBT Ugandans, since the passage of the Bill. CHRI condemns the Bill as a severe violation of the rights to privacy, equality, nondiscrimination and freedom of expression and assembly and welcomes President Musevenis decision not to sign the Bill into law. CHRI urges Museveni to maintain this stand. As CHRI Director Maja Daruwala rightly said, Anti-gay laws typify an intolerant Victorian morality that targeted and disadvantaged whole populations on gender and racial grounds. Discrimination was the hallmark of this kind of law making. Commonwealth countries that refuse to amend old laws and are, in fact, bringing in retrogressive legislation, are making a mockery of the recently reaffirmed Commonwealth Charter. There is no place for obviously discriminatory laws in a modern Commonwealth based on equality and equity. As the Secretary-General has stated, Commonwealth countries must remember that a commitment to equality and human rights for all, without discrimination on any grounds, is the foundation for peaceful, just and stable societies.

For further information please contact: Vidya Venkat Media and Communications Officer Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative T: +91-11-43180224 E: vidya@humanrightsinitiative.org