Malawi is not arresting people for same-sex
acts until the anti-gay laws are reviewed,
Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General
Janet Chikaya-Banda told the United
Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva
on Wednesday.
Banda was formally responding to the
committee’s
inquiry in the findings of the Law
Commission with
regard to the review of the Penal Code, in
particular
sections 137(A), 153, and 156, that
criminalise
consensual same-sex intimate activity.
UN committee asked Malawi to explain its
position on progress to decriminalize
homosexuality.
Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General
told
committee that the review of laws that
criminalise
consensual same sex was stalled due to lack
of
financial resources.
However, Banda told the committee that
there was
political will to deal with the matter.
Banda said those involved in homosexual
acts are
not pursued by law enforcers and that a
special law
commission has not been empanelled to look
at the
pieces of legislation that criminalise same
sex.
Malawi’s government is moving to suspend
laws
against homosexuality and in 2012 issues a
moratorium where it ordered police not to
arrest
people for same-sex acts until the anti-gay
laws are
reviewed by parliament.
Anyone convicted under Malawi’s anti-gay
laws,
some of the toughest in the world, can get
up to 14
years in jail with hard labour.
Centre for the Development of People
(Cedep)
executive director Gift Trapence claimed to
the
committee that there is growing homophobia
in
Malawi against homosexuals.
But the report submitted by Banda said :
“Malawi
has not set up a mechanism to specifically
monitor
cases of violence based on intimate
orientation nor has it set up awareness-
raising campaigns on the same.”
It adds: “All cases of violence are handled
in the
same way regardless of the cause or alleged
basis of the violence.”
Taxpayer-funded Malawi Human Rights
Commission
(MHRC) chairperson Sophie Kalinde told the
committee Malawi Government should be
commended for opening up the issue of
same sex.
Traditionalists and religious leaders in
Malawi
strongly oppose moves to legalise same-sex
acts,
arguing that homosexuality is alien to
Malawi’s
cultural and religious values.
But Human Rights Watch points out that
arresting
people for consensual same-sex conduct
violates
international human rights standards and
constitutional guarantees of equality in
many
countries.
acts until the anti-gay laws are reviewed,
Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General
Janet Chikaya-Banda told the United
Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva
on Wednesday.
Banda was formally responding to the
committee’s
inquiry in the findings of the Law
Commission with
regard to the review of the Penal Code, in
particular
sections 137(A), 153, and 156, that
criminalise
consensual same-sex intimate activity.
UN committee asked Malawi to explain its
position on progress to decriminalize
homosexuality.
Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General
told
committee that the review of laws that
criminalise
consensual same sex was stalled due to lack
of
financial resources.
However, Banda told the committee that
there was
political will to deal with the matter.
Banda said those involved in homosexual
acts are
not pursued by law enforcers and that a
special law
commission has not been empanelled to look
at the
pieces of legislation that criminalise same
sex.
Malawi’s government is moving to suspend
laws
against homosexuality and in 2012 issues a
moratorium where it ordered police not to
arrest
people for same-sex acts until the anti-gay
laws are
reviewed by parliament.
Anyone convicted under Malawi’s anti-gay
laws,
some of the toughest in the world, can get
up to 14
years in jail with hard labour.
Centre for the Development of People
(Cedep)
executive director Gift Trapence claimed to
the
committee that there is growing homophobia
in
Malawi against homosexuals.
But the report submitted by Banda said :
“Malawi
has not set up a mechanism to specifically
monitor
cases of violence based on intimate
orientation nor has it set up awareness-
raising campaigns on the same.”
It adds: “All cases of violence are handled
in the
same way regardless of the cause or alleged
basis of the violence.”
Taxpayer-funded Malawi Human Rights
Commission
(MHRC) chairperson Sophie Kalinde told the
committee Malawi Government should be
commended for opening up the issue of
same sex.
Traditionalists and religious leaders in
Malawi
strongly oppose moves to legalise same-sex
acts,
arguing that homosexuality is alien to
Malawi’s
cultural and religious values.
But Human Rights Watch points out that
arresting
people for consensual same-sex conduct
violates
international human rights standards and
constitutional guarantees of equality in
many
countries.
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