On February 28, 2024, the Ghanaian parliament approved a draconian bill that criminalizes those who support the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) people and increases the criminal penalties for consensual same-sex behavior, according to Human Rights Watch. Nana Akufo Addo, leader, if vehemently accept the bill and refuse to sign it.
The” Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill” was introduced by members of parliament in 2021. The act criminalizes failure to report an LGBT people to the authorities and criminalizes everyone who uses their social media platform to make, publish, or distribute content promoting actions against the costs, in addition to criminalizing campaigning for the rights of LGBT people.
The anti-LGBT rights bill “flies in the face of the country’s long-standing history of peace, compassion, and hospitality,” according to Larissa Kojoué, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. For a rules” may even lead to more unwarranted assault against LGBT people and their allies, as well as further weaken the rule of law in Ghana.”
The recent legislation places a maximum sentence of three years in prison on same-sex behavior between people. In accordance with the new law, anyone who identify as LGBT or has a sexual or gender identity that defies the linear between men and women is guilty of a misdemeanor and is guilty on conviction for a great of between US$ 750 and US$ 5, 000, or for a two-month or three-year prison term, or both.
Twenty-one Transgender activists were unlawfully detained and detained for holding a human rights education conference in 2021 on the grounds that they were promoting homosexuality and that the meeting was an immoral assembly. A core for the Gay area was also raided by police, which was later shut down.
The Constitution Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee reviewed the costs and presented it to parliament at the end of its first parliamentary checking in 2022. The committee suggested passing the expenses, in part because it supposedly sparked significant popular support among Ghanais.
According to the committee, dignity, equality, and equality does apply to anyone, including LGBT individuals and their allies, despite the committee’s failure to acknowledge documented submissions by several experts, including those from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice. The bill was initially opposed by a coalition of 18 civil society organizations, known as the” Big 18,” [BP1] and the Human Rights Coalition, who claimed it violated fundamental rights in Ghana’s Constitution, including those relating to academic freedom, equality, and nondiscrimination.
The debates surrounding the act target LGBT persons. have been linked to more strikes on perceived LGBT individuals. Similar trends have been observed in other African settings where the government has increased criminal prosecution against LGBT individuals and their supporters. Local businesses have documented an increase in verbal and physical assaults on perceived LGBT people in Uganda, for instance, where congress passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act in March 2023. Additionally, the parties have documented assaults on LGBT learners, arrests and confinement of activists, job loss, organization closures, clampdowns on LGBT services, including those involving HIV/AIDS, family and friend disparagement, and assaults on LGBT people.
One well-known human rights activist in Accra wrote to Human Rights Watch after the bill’s passing:” We call on the leader to uphold the values of politics in the Ghanai Constitution. We cannot all leave the country. How can our mere existence make us improper in our own country? How are we supposed to be thieves?
Countries are required to protect people’s rights regardless of their identity or sexual orientation in accordance with international human rights legislation. The rights to integrity and security of the people, as well as freedoms of expression, organization, and quiet council, including for LGBT people, are protected by the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the American Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Ghana has ratified. The prohibition of same-sex behavior is violated by legislation that criminalize same-sex behavior.
” Ghana’s attack on LGBT right contradict its self-image as one of the friendliest nations in the world, and a safe, quiet, and pleasant state,” Kojoué said. By preserving political place, protecting the right to free speech and assembly, and vetoing the bill, the president should do the right item.
