Quote of the week
Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others (CCT8/99) [1999] ZACC 3
Nigerian Senate votes for draconian anti-gay law
Nigerian Senate votes for draconian anti-gay law – Same-sex marriage and civil unions to be banned
14 years jail for participants, 10 years jail for helpers & witnesses
Gay advocacy groups & same-sex public affection to be outlawed
Sweeping criminalisation contravenes Article 42 of the Nigerian constitution
London – 30 November 2011
The Nigerian Senate voted on Tuesday 29 November to criminalise same-sex marriages and civil unions, with penalties of up to 14 years jail for participants and 10 years jail for anyone who helps or witnesses such a marriage or union.
In addition, the scope of the bill has been dramatically widened. It now also criminalises gay organisations and advocacy groups, and public expressions of same-sex affection. These newly added offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
The bill has been sent to the House of Representatives for approval. If it is passed there, and secures the President’s signature, it will become law.
See this Reuters report:
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AS0D520111129
According to Reuters, the bill states:
“Persons who entered into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union commit an offence and are each liable on conviction to a term of 14 years in prison….
“Any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations or directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison.”
Commenting on the bill, Yemisi Ilesanmi, the Nigerian bisexual coordinator of the campaign group, Nigerian LGBTIs in the Diaspora Against Anti-Same-Sex Laws, said:
“This legislation is a clear attempt to crush the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) community in Nigeria. The further criminalisation of same-sex relations is hateful and a violation of human rights.
“The bill will jail Nigerians who participate in LGBTI organisations and will make human rights advocacy by LGBTI groups impossible.
“The new penalties for same-sex marriage are more than double what the bill originally demanded. The previous penalty of three years jail for same-sex couples who get married has been raised to 14 years. For witnesses and facilitators of such marriages the maximum jail term has been increased from five to 10 years. The decision to so substantially increase the punishments is particularly abhorrent.
“It is shameful that many Nigerian senators are so myopic that they compared homosexuality to paedophilia during the voting on the bill.
“The action of further criminalising an oppressed minority because of their sexual orientation is indeed an outrage, a gross violation of human rights. Nigeria is sliding fast into a despotic state.
“The bill aims to further criminalise same-sex relationships. Already, consensual same-sex conduct between adults is a criminal offence carrying up to 14 years imprisonment and in some parts of the country there is the death penalty under Sharia law,” said Ms Ilesanmi.
Davis Mac-Iyalla, the gay campaign director of the Nigerian LGBTIs in the Diaspora Against Anti-Same-Sex Laws, noted:
“The Nigerian senators have today further demonstrated their discrimination and oppression of vulnerable LGBTI Nigerians. I urge human rights activists worldwide to join forces with us to fight the bill.”
“This vote demonstrates how the senators are ignorant of human sexuality. They are enforcing their religious beliefs in a secular country. Equality and human rights are for all, including Nigerian LGBTIs,” he said.
Peter Tatchell, Director of the human rights advocacy organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, added:
“This bill violates the equality and non-discrimination guarantees of Article 42 of the Nigerian Constitution and Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which Nigeria has signed and pledged to uphold. See more details below.
“There is a good chance that this bill, and Nigeria’s long-standing criminalisation of same-sex relations, can be challenged in the courts. This could be a future option for LGBTI campaigners and human rights defenders.
“The law against homosexuality is not an authentic national law that originated in Nigerian jurisprudence. It was imposed on Nigeria by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century. Despite Nigeria now being an independent country, this British colonial law has never been repealed.
“Our Nigerian colleagues are still hopeful that they can defeat the bill at the next stage. We stand in solidarity with their struggle for LGBTI equality,” he said.
Additional quotes are available from Nigerian LGBTI activists, Yemisi Ilesanmi
and Davis Mac-Iyalla:
Coordinator – Nigerian LGBT in the Diaspora Against Anti-Same-Sex Laws
Yemisi Ilesanmi
Tel- 07577749875
Email- nanfs2001@yahoo.com
Davis Mac-Iyalla
Tel- 0794 823 7399
Email- maciyalla@yahoo.com
Peter Tatchell: 020 7403 1790
Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation
Email: peter@petertatchellfoundation.org
Website: www.petertatchellfoundation.org
