Ghana Police Says Homosexuals Will From Now Be Protected—Following Human Rights Watch Damning LGBT Report
Gay Rights
Despite the absence of a well-defined law prohibiting homosexuality in Ghana, the existence of an obsolete legislation, which criminalizes unnatural carnal knowledge continues to be used against Lesbians and Gays in Ghana—and the population’s “inherent” detest of homosexuality because of religious and cultural influence have made it worst.
Though unnatural carnal knowledge, reasonably would catch a husband having anal sex with his wife, the legislation only sits as homosexual persecution mandate in Ghana.
Thus, LGBT rights do not at its tiniest form exist in Ghana.
Worst, homosexuals are regularly beaten, shunned, discriminated against and sometimes even lynched. They literally have to exist in the shadows—sort of contemporary “vampires”, unprotected by even the state.
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Following Human Rights Watch’s damning report on the state of LGBT rights in Ghana, the Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu has come out to say, the “police service would adopt more proactive steps and pragmatic approaches to ensure the safety of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people in Ghana.”
This assurance was made in a letter by the police service in response to the Human Rights Watch’s report on the violations of LGBT rights in Ghana.
The Human Rights Watch’s report which was published on Monday recommended a repeal of section 104(1)(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 prohibiting and punishing “unnatural carnal knowledge”.
The report concluded that; “having a law on the books that criminalizes adult consensual same-sex conduct contributes to a climate in which LGBT people are frequently victims of violence and discrimination,”
It’s in response to this report, that a letter from Ghana Police Service, signed by ACP Kwame Tsidi, chief staff officer, on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, has said that “the police acknowledge the fundamental human rights and freedom as contained in the 1992 constitution of Ghana…these are inculcated in the things taught to police officers at the National Police Training School Accra.”
Also, paragraph 5 of the IGP’s letter states that police stations are safe for LGBT persons to report cases.
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, Editor
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri is the Founding Editor of BrutallyUncensored.Com , a Film Critic and a Human Rights Advocate; he holds 2 masters degrees in Law; International Human Rights Law (LL.M) and Legal Practice Course (LL.M) from University of Leicester and Nottingham Law School--and also a degree in Law (LL.B) from University of East London. He's a Professional Truth Sayer. He is the author of the popular eBook “Success is a Right, Not A Privilege.” Contact: [email protected]
