Homophobes Terrorgesetz in Uganda stoppen!

Stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda (Amnesty International)

The Commune Nr 15, Juni 2010

Die neue The Commune, hier als pdf-Datei

Coalition of African Lesbians zur Gewalt gegen sexuelle Minderheiten in Afrika

Quelle: Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)

Africa: Responding to Violence against Sexual Minorities

08/03/2010: We need to understand what it means to be heterosexual as well as homosexual, and that our sexualities affect whether we live or die. During this 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the 15+year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform, the Coalition of African Lesbians (“CAL”) reinforces that: LGBTI rights are human rights, that we are not claiming or asking for “special” or “additional” rights BUT that we call on our African governments to condemn the violence perpetrated against sexual minorities, to refrain from engaging in this violence and to take all measures to ensure the protection of sexual minorities, in particular, lesbian and transgender women subjected to violence.

Incidents

1. On 21 November 2008, the National Assembly of Burundi for the first time in the country’s history passed a law making same-sex acts punishable between 3 months and two years in prison, along with a substantial fine. This is in addition to the enactment of legislation criminalizing same-sex marriage.[2]

2. On September 25, 2009, legislation was introduced in the Ugandan Parliament entitled the ‘‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009’’ to strengthen and expand existing Anti-Homosexuality laws to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; if passed into law provides for death sentence for homosexual offenders.

3. On 18 February 2010 in Zambia, the National Constitutional Conference (“NCC”) adopted a clause introduced by the Human Rights Committee of the NCC that expressly prohibits same-sex marriage.[3] In support of this prohibition, the Southern Province minister /Daniel Munkombwe /argued that “even animals did not go for those of the same sex and wondered why human beings could lower themselves to a level below animals if animals went for the opposite sex.”

4. In South Africa in 2006, outside the Johannesburg High Court immediately after his acquittal on the charge of rape, President Jacob Zuma said: “Same-sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God. When I was growing up, unqingili [homosexuals in the Zulu language] could not stand in front of me. I would knock him out”.

5. In July 2008, the Sunday World published an article by John Qwelane accompanied by a cartoon depicting homosexual as animals getting married and equating homosexual sexual orientation to bestiality.[4] In January 2010, the South African government proposed the appointment of John Qwelane as Ambassador to Uganda. The brutal murders of Eudy Simelane and Girly Nkosi have gained national attention. They represent however only a fraction of the physical and sexual violence, the prejudice and the hate that LGBTI people in South Africa are confronted with on a daily basis.

6. In Kenya, a network called “Operation Gays Out” has been initiated to kill human rights defenders and assault people suspected of being gay.

7. In Rwanda, two women en route to a leadership institute organized by the Coalition of African Lesbians were detained at the Kigali International Airport and then held in cells for two and a half weeks without any charges. Their passports are still being held by Rwandan migration officers.

The criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity has grave consequences for the inability of sexual minorities to access to health and legal services. In South African, HIV programmes do not necessarily respond to same-sex sexuality or address the particular vulnerabilities experienced by sexual minorities. In countries such as Uganda, we have received reports that most medical practitioners refuse to treat people who identify as gay or lesbian because homosexuality is illegal and they consider it a sin. The government of Rwanda directly linked HIV/AIDS to homosexual conduct and has called on citizens to exercise “good morals among Rwandans to help control the HIV prevalence rate”.

The Yogyakarta Principles, adopted in 2007 acknowledge human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity and establish the relevant legal framework for articulating and responding to these rights violations.[5] In our context, and as articulated by the Principles, the above-mentioned incidents, governments failure to protect sexual minorities and most significantly following, governments legislative and other initiatives aimed at criminalizing homosexual identity violate the following rights:

i) The rights to universal enjoyment of human rights, non-discrimination and recognition before the law are violated when laws are introduced which criminalize the adult consensual homosexual conduct;[6]

ii) The fundamental rights to life, freedom from violence and torture, privacy, access to justice and freedom from arbitrary detention as entrenched in the UN Convention on the Prohibition of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[7]

iii) The rights to expression, opinion and association which emphasize the importance of the freedom to express oneself, one’s identity and one’s sexuality, without State interference based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including the rights to participate peaceably in public assemblies and events and otherwise associate in community with others.[8]

iv) On the rights of Human Rights Defenders, principle 27 recognizes the right to defend and promote human rights without discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the obligation of States to ensure the protection of human rights defenders working in these areas.

v) In respect of the rights to redress and accountability, principles 28 and 29 affirm the importance of holding rights violators accountable, and ensuring appropriate redress for those who face rights violations.

Regards,

Fikile Vilakazi

Director of Secretariat
Coalition of African Lesbians [CAL]
Tel: +27 11 918 2182/5507
E-mail: director@cal.org.za
URL: www.cal.org.za
Unit 5 Oaklane Office Park, Grippen Road
Boksburg, 1459, South Africa
P O Box 26764, Boksburg
1462, South Africa

Studie zur Einflussnahme der US-amerikanischen religiösen Rechten in Afrika: „Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia“

Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia (als pdf-Datei hier), eine neue lesenswerte Studie von Kapya Kaoma, herausgegeben vom Political Research Associates (PRA) zur homophoben Einflussnahme der Religious Right in Afrika, v.a. in Uganda, Nigeria und Kenia:

„As Kaoma argues, the U.S. Right – once isolated in Africa for supporting pro-apartheid, White supremacist regimes – has successfully reinvented itself as the mainstream of U.S. evangelicalism. Through their extensive communications networks in Africa, social welfare projects, Bible schools, and educational materials, U.S. religious conservatives warn of the dangers of homosexuals and present themselves as the true representatives of U.S. evangelicalism, so helping to marginalize Africans’ relationships with mainline Protestant churches.“

Prossy Must Stay – Keine Abschiebung von Prossy Kakooza nach Uganda!

Der britische Staat plant Prossy Kakooza nach Uganda abzuschieben, wo ihr als Lesbe staatliche wie gesellschaftliche Verfolgung (Homosexualität ist in Uganda seit der Kolonialzeit illegalisiert) und die Ermordung durch Mitglieder der eigenen Familie droht. Sie floh 2007 nach Britannien, nachdem sie und ihre Partnerin in Uganda in einer Polizeistation auf Grund ihrer sexuellen Orientierung inhaftiert, gefoltert und vergewaltigt wurden. Das britische Innenministerium hat den Asylantrag von Prossy Kakooza mit der Begründung, es handele sich lediglich um Angriffe seitens einiger Individuen und sie könne in eine andere Stadt ihres Heimatlandes fliehen, abgelehnt. In Uganda wird seit einigen Jahren von einer Reihe von Medien, Politikern und Geistlichen versucht, eine homophobe Pogromstimmung zu erzeugen, was gesellschaftlich zum Teil einen fruchtbaren Boden findet. Weitere Informationen zu dem Fall gibt es hier, eine Petition für das Recht von Prossy Kakooza in Britannien bleiben zu können kann hier unterschrieben werden.

Neumann Kaffee Gruppe profitiert von der Vertreibung von BäuerInnen in Uganda

Die Vertreibung von BäuerInnen oder Indigenas in Staaten des Trikonts von ihren Ländereien für die Profitinteressen von Grosskonzernen wie im kolumbianischen Chocó ist kein Phänomen, welches auf den „angelsächsischen Raubtierkapitalismus“ beschränkt bleibt, auch der angeblich sozial fürsorgliche „rheinische (oder auch hanseatische) Kapitalismus“ legt da kein anderes Verhalten sondern – wenn überhaupt – nur eine andere Rhetorik an den Tag. Hieran erinnerte eine Aktion am gestrigen Tage in der Speicherstadt in Hamburg (einem Symbol deutscher und hamburger kolonialer Herrlichkeit), wo im Rahmen einer Protestaktion AktivistInnen von FIAN Deutschland e.V. darauf hinwiesen, dass die Kaffeeplantage der Firma Neumann Kaffee Gruppe nur durch die Vertreibung von 2.000 Menschen in der Region Mubende/Uganda durch die ugandische Armee im Jahre 2001 entstehen konnten. Neumann (welcher unter den Kaffekonzernen als eher sozialen Fragen gegenüber „aufgeschlossen“ gilt) selbst weigert sich nicht nur, angemessene Entschädigungen zu zahlen, sondern stellt den Zustand, welcher dazu führte, das 2.000 Menschen ohne ausreichende Unterkunft und Versorgung leben müssen, zynisch als Entwicklungshilfe im Rahmen eines sozial und ökologisch nachhaltigen Wirtschaftens dar.

Black Gold, ein sehenswerter Film über die Auswirkung der Preispolitik der Kaffeekonzerne auf KleinbäuerInnen in Äthiopien

TextilarbeiterInnen in Uganda erkämpfen 25% mehr Lohn

Einer Pressemeldung der ITGLWF nach, gelang es der Uganda Textile, Garment, Leather and Allied Workers Union (UTGLAWU) trotz Entlassungsdrohungen bei der Firma Southern Range Nyanza in Jinja durch einen zweitägigen Streik eine satte Lohnerhöhung von durchschnittlich 25% herauszuholen. Ebenso konnte die UTGLAWU erreichen, dass die nach dem Ende des Streikes gegen einige ArbeiterInnen ausgesprochene Kündigungen rückgängig gemacht wurden. Vielleicht sollten sich die Gewerkschaften hierzulande einmal ein Beispiel an den 1.300 KollegInnen in Uganda nehmen, welche trotz widriger Bedingungen die Entschlossenheit zeigen, für ihre Interessen einzutreten