Namibia Could Be the Next Country to Abolish Its Colonial-Era Laws Banning Gay Sex

[FlyJ]

Namibia is reportedly making moves to officially abolish its colonial-era sodomy laws from its books by the end of this year.

According to local news publication Windhoek Observer, the move has been several years in the making. In 2018, the country’s Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) began a project of identifying obsolete laws “that need to be done away with, amended, or repealed.” On Monday, the LRDC submitted a report on its criminal codes outlawing same-sex intimacy to Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab, who plans on a proposal to the Cabinet striking down the laws in two weeks.

Namibia’s anti-sodomy codes are a legacy of Roman-Dutch common law, similar to many other nations that are left with homophobic statutes imposed upon them by their former colonizers. Although there’s no direct criminalization of same-sex sexual activity on the books via the country’s laws, 2004’s Criminal Procedure Act outlines the requirement providing evidence of sodomy in prosecution.

While the precedent for enforcing these laws exists, the laws are rarely used, according to the report submitted Monday. Between 2003 and 2013, 115 sodomy cases were reported to the police, resulting in 64 arrests, according to national newspaper The Namibian.

The report also claims that the law is “very likely unconstitutional,” as it violates the rights of LGBTQ+ people and creates a culture of intolerance.

According to the U.K. publication Gay Times, Dausab said the abolishment of the outmoded statutes is a way for the south African country “to move in a direction that will make all Namibians feel included” and “make all Namibians feel they are members of the Namibian House.” But while pushing for greater inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community, she also denied the existence of state-sponsored homophobia.

“Homophobia, transphobia, any phobic tendencies are not state-sanctioned,” Dausab said. “But we must allow people to have their own views. What we should not allow is that there is any active or passive discrimination against any segment of our society.”

Omar van Reenen, founder of the Namibia Equal Rights Movement (NERM), pushed back on this claim. In comments reported by the website Afro News, he asserted that it was “disingenuous to not acknowledge that former president Sam Nujoma told police officers to arrest, deport and imprison the LGBTQ+ people.”

“It is sad to not acknowledge that former justice minister Albert Kawana was the person responsible for not removing sexual orientation from the labour act,” he added, referencing a labor law that provides protections for Namibian workers.

Still, van Reenen welcomed the abolishment of the laws, while also calling for greater governmental accountability and for the passage of an LGBTQ+ equality bill.

While things are looking up for Namibia’s LGBTQ+ population, circumstances remain grim further north in Ghana. In February, an LGBTQ+ community center in Accra, the country’s capital, was raided by police, forcing it to shut down after only a month of operation. The following month, Ghanaian lawmakers introduced a bill that would criminalize LGBTQ+ advocacy, with President Nana Akufo-Addo indicating that he would sign it into law if passed.

Despite the fact that this bill is not yet law, 21 LGBTQ+ activists were arrested for “unlawful assembly” in the city of Ho last week and are currently being held without bail.

This most recent incident has attracted international attention. On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement to the LGBTQ+ news publication Washington Blade on Tuesday in which it claimed that the Biden administration is “monitoring the situation closely.”

“We urge national leaders in Ghana to uphold constitutional human rights protections and to adhere to international human rights obligations and commitments for all individuals,” the statement reads. “This includes members of the LGBTQI+ community. We call on all Ghanaians to respect the provisions under Ghana’s constitution that guarantee freedom of speech, expression, and peaceful assembly.

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[kimi]

I would celebrate when that happens. 🏳️‍🌈✊🏾