THE GUARDIAN: Court of appeal decision hailed as victory for LGBTQ+ community that could encourage other African countries to follow suit
Gay rights campaigners expressed joy at the Botswana court of appeal’s decision to uphold a ruling that decriminalised same-sex relationships, saying the country’s judiciary had set an example for other African countries.
The government had appealed a 2019 ruling that criminalising homosexuality was unconstitutional. The ruling had been hailed as a major victory for gay rights campaigners on the continent, following an unsuccessful attempt in Kenya to repeal colonial-era laws criminalising gay sex.
Dismissing the appeal on Monday, the bench of five judges unanimously ruled that criminalising same-sex relationships was a violation of the constitutional rights of LGBTQ+ individuals to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality.
“Those sections [of the penal code] have outlived their usefulness, and serve only to incentivise law enforcement agents to become keyhole peepers and intruders into the private space of citizens,” said court of appeal president Ian Kirby.
The ruling added: “Since the appellant’s grounds of appeal have been unsuccessful there can be only one outcome and that is that the appeal must fail.”
Before the 2019 ruling, gay sex was punishable by up to seven years in jail. » | Nyasha Chingono in Harare | Monday, November 29, 2021
