Ghana, which has just adopted a repressive bill against homosexuality, joins the bench of African countries determined to strengthen their legal arsenal against LGBT+ people. On the continent, 31 countries criminalize sexual relations between people of the same sex.
This Wednesday, February 28, the Ghanaian Parliament adopted a bill toughening the repression of homosexuality. This one, supposed to promote the “ proper sexual rights and family values “, now exposes any person recognized as belonging to the LGBT+ community (i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) to a sentence of up to three years in prison. In case of ” promotion ” Or ” support » of LGBT+ activities, the sanction increases to five years of imprisonment, or even ten years if it concerns “ LGBT+ campaigns aimed at children “.
Although homosexual relations were already prohibited by legislation inherited from the colonial era, no Ghanaian had ever been convicted for this reason. The text, which has yet to be approved by President Nana Akufo-Addo, is among one of the most homophobic on the continent. But he is far from being the only one: of the 61 countries in the world that criminalize homosexual relations, half are in Africa.
Even more serious, recent years have been marked by a outbreak of discriminatory laws towards LGBT+ people on the African continent. “ We observe a trend towards tightening of existing laws », deplores Samira Daoud, regional director ofAmnesty International for West Africa and Central Africa, at the microphone of Pierre Firtion.
Multiplication of anti-LGBT laws
In May 2023, it is Uganda which adopted a draconian anti-LGBT law, providing for life imprisonment for acts of homosexuality, or even the death penalty for repeat offenses. Some countries are trying to follow suit, such as Kenya, which is working on a similar bill, or even Tanzania, where certain deputies are calling for the death penalty for homosexuals, who already risk an irreducible sentence of twenty years. “ We also saw it in Senegal [en 2022], with an attempt to adopt an even more repressive law against LGBT+ people. This text, somewhat on the same model as that which has just been adopted in Ghana, is all the more worrying as it could serve as a model in the West African region. », recalls Samira Daoud, based in Dakar.
In Africa, these countries are not an exception: Amnesty International denounces a “ homophobic legal war “. While some have recently decriminalized homosexuality, such as Botswana (2021), Gabon (2020) and Angola (2019), in total, 31 states out of 54 repress homosexuality, including four up to the death sentence. On the continent, only South Africa, a pioneer in this area, has authorized same-sex marriage since 2006.
Growing homophobic sentiment
This legal arsenal is accompanied by hate campaigns and repeated homophobic speeches. In Burundi, for example, President Evariste Ndayishimiye called in December 2023 to “ stone » gay couples who, according to him, would have “ chose the devil » and would attract a “ curse » national with marriage for all, a “ abominable practice “. “ Personally, I think that if we see this kind of individuals in Burundi, we should put them in a stadium and stone them with stones. And it would not be a sin for those who do it! “, declared the head of state of this predominantly Catholic country, who had already called for ” ban » homosexuals and “ treated as a pariah “.
Violence, both verbal and physical, against LGBT+ people on the continent is widely documented. In Cameroon, people suspected of homosexuality are arbitrarily arrested, beaten or threatened, according to Human Rights Watch. In Senegal, the remains of a presumed gay man was even exhumed and then burned last October. Finally, according to a 2020 UN reportsome are even victims of “corrective” rape, sexual violence committed for supposed “conversion” objectives, notably in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Victims of blackmail and extortion, persecuted and sometimes even murdered, Ugandan homosexuals have been living a real ordeal since the adoption of the law. “ Every day someone is attacked, someone is mistreated, someone is kicked out of their home or loses their job, simply because of who they are, and an organization that supported them closes its doors because she can’t continue to survive », says Isaac Mugisha, LGBT activist and security manager within the Uganda Key Populations Consortium. “ People try to flee the country as much as possible because the law is harsh and people who are known to be homosexual, and whose areas of residence are known to be targeted, have to go into hiding. »
For Isaac Mugisha, there is no question of “ go back into the closet » or flee to Kenya, South Africa or Zimbabwe, as the majority of Ugandan homosexuals do. “ I don’t want to give up, I want to fighthe insists. But choosing to stay means saying “I’m going to die soon”. » Since the promulgation of the text, the consortium has handled 900 cases of relocation and medical support.
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“ Increase your popularity at low costs »
For the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, it is above all a question of “ protect » the culture of the country. “ The West will not come to govern Uganda “, she declared in the face of a barrage of international criticism, notably from the United States, which immediately promised economic sanctions. A motivation displayed by several African countries, which are adopting anti-LGBT laws in spades, based on the idea that homosexuality is imported from the West. “ It’s one-upmanship to position itself as a country that stands up to the West “, says Larissa Kojoué, researcher on LGBT rights issues in Africa for Human Rights Watch.
However, most of these laws have their origins in the colonial era, especially in the British provisions against sodomy. These were transcribed when many former colonies gained independence and established their own laws, largely inspired by those of the United Kingdom, which did not decriminalize homosexual acts until 1967. ” Copies and pastes », summarizes Larissa Kojoué. “ It’s a big paradox: the laws that the leaders rely on come from the colonial era, but they are toughening them to differentiate themselves from the West », Points out the expert.
These declarations thus make it possible to win the favor of a strongly divided public opinion. “ It’s a way to get the love of the masses. When we focus on the LGBT issue, there is no longer any polarization, and we take responsibility for economic problems, access to water, health, etc. », assures Larissa Kojoué.
“ For a politician, adopting this kind of law means increasing your popularity at low cost, since you don’t need to build hundreds of schools, dozens of highways… You just need to discriminate more against homosexuals and you will be considered a great politician who knew how to preserve so-called African values », confirms Samira Daoud.
Ousmane Sonko, one of the leaders of the opposition in Senegal, promised, before the legislative elections of 2022to toughen the law against homosexuality if he became president, while Mahamadou Kassogué, the Malian Minister of Justice, indicated that he wanted to sanction her. “ Opposing LGBT communities is a way to get re-elected. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to stop in Uganda, Ghana, Kenya or any other country. It’s a wave that will likely sweep away most conservative African countries », Alarmed Isaac Mugiha.