The Anti Homosexuality Bill 2023

The Diary of a Lawyer discusses the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 passed by the Ghana Parliament. The bill criminalizes homosexuality and imposes severe penalties, including life imprisonment and the death penalty for certain offenses. It also targets the promotion and normalization of homosexuality. Supporters claim it protects traditional family values and addresses gaps in existing legislation. However, there has been widespread condemnation from international organizations and countries. They argue that the bill violates human rights and is discriminatory. They are urging the President to veto the bill. Hello, welcome to this new episode of the Diary of a Lawyer, and today we are going to be talking about an issue that has been in the media widely reported, which is referred to as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023, passed by the Ghana Parliament on the 25th of March 2023. Again, we are going to simply focus on what the law actually says, and provide an overview, and just focusing on the context and the wider version of the law as opposed to the various debates around the issue, rightly or wrongly, whatever side people take, but we're just focusing on the bill. So, there's a bit of a history, there was a slightly similar lesser version of this bill in 2014, which was vetoed by the country's president, and this is slightly, if you like, an amended or upgraded version of the bill. It's called the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023, which is passed by the Ghana Parliament that states that homosexuality under the bill can be subjected to the criminal penal codes of the country, and the bill, persons convicted of sex are liable, in some cases, in prison for life, and it additionally prescribes the death penalty for what is called, quote-unquote, aggravated homosexuality, and that latter offence includes getting raped, sex in a position of authority, or procured by intimidation, or sex with persons older than 75, and sex with the disabled and mentally ill. Further, under its provisions, there's a classification of promotion, quote-unquote, or including normalisation of homosexuality, which is punishable by imprisonment, and a fine, and there has been, obviously, widespread publicity around the bill since its passing. Just as a slight background, the Memorandum to the Bill stated that its objective was to establish a comprehensive and enhanced legislation to protect the traditional family, quote-unquote, by prohibition of the same sex relations, and again, quote-unquote, promotion or recognition, strengthening measures to deal with emerging, quote-unquote, threats to the traditional, quote-unquote, heterosexual family, which is apparently designed to, quote-unquote, protect Ugandan culture from, quote-unquote, sexual rights activists seeking to impose their values of, quote-unquote, sexual promiscuity, and also adds that they're trying to protect children and the youth who, apparently, are made vulnerable to sexual abuse through homosexuality and other acts. That's the Memorandum attached to the bill, and I'm reading about him. And also, the other objective, apparently, according to those who support the bill, was that it sought to address gaps in existing legislation, which, apparently, of course, then did not provide for, clearly provide for, quote-unquote, charging, investigating, prosecuting, prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing of offenders under the prohibition of the Act. I mean, it's a long bill, one content, but in essence, it defined the offence of homosexuality. It includes various forms of gay sex, and also people holding out as gay, transgender, queer, or binary categories of male and female, and it sets out the penalties of the offence in the various sections, and I think, on the bottom, another offence was the status quo of making false and misleading allegations of offences under the bill, punishable by one year's imprisonment. And in the final passage, the Parliament agreed to suspend certain rules to pass the bill without further delay. There were two minority MPs who constituted minority courts, i.e. they voted against, and they said that they were committed to say how they say, but that's how, apparently, according to them, the majority works. However, there obviously have been widespread condemnations and statements. For example, the Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa for Amnesty International has said that the President should veto the bill, which amounted to a grave assault on LGBTI people, quote-unquote, and was also, quote-unquote, contentious of the constitution. He further called it ambiguous and vaguely worded, whilst the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations made similar calls, and according to TARC, the Commissioner of Human Rights, he stated that the bill was discriminatory and probably among the worst of its kind in the world. He was, quote-unquote, confused, and confused consensual and non-consensual relations, and argued that the former should not be criminalised, i.e. consensual, and the latter which should be prohibited without reference to gender or sexual orientation, and he also argued that it conflicted with the government's constitution and international obligations. Obviously, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the European Union denounced the bill, and they say they're watching events very closely, and they hope that it is vetoed by the country's President. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also stated, further stated, that if signed into law by the President, it will render lesbians and gay and bi-sexual people in England are criminals simply for existing for being who they are, and he added that it could provide cut-flash for the systematic violation of nearly all their human rights and substance abuse against each other, etc. etc. So, that's just an overview of what they've all said, and briefly what the proposals of the bill stated in their own words, and what some of those who opposed the bill said, again, in their own words, but that's the overall context of what the so-called Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 passed down by the government states. So, there we shall leave it on this edition of the Diary of a Lawyer, focusing on the actual context and general overview of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 passed by the Ugandan Parliament on, I think, the 23rd of March, 2023. Thank you for listening, we shall speak again in yet another episode of the Diary of a Lawyer, and thanks for tuning in, we shall speak again. Bye.