Skip to main content

THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH MOVEMENT CONDEMNS THE SENTENCING OF TIWONGE CHIMBALANGA AND STEVEN MONJEZA IN MALAWI

By
The People’s Health Movement, a global network bringing together grassroots activists, civil society organizations, academics and health workers from around the world , condemns the action by the Malawian judicial system in sentencing Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, a gay couple, to 14 years in imprisonment in Blantyre, Malawi for committing “unnatural acts” based on outdated colonial laws.


Section 20 of the Malawian constitution clearly states:

“Discrimination of persons in any form is prohibited and all persons are, under any law, guaranteed equal and effective protection against discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, property, birth or other status”.


The multiplicity of victimization and arrests of lesbian and gay couples in many African countries over the past few years especially in countries such as Malawi and Uganda is a gross violation of human rights. The majority of African countries that condemn gay and lesbian relationships have committed to and are signatories to international human rights’ treaties. The sentencing is therefore a clear contradiction of these treaties and undermines citizens’ basic human rights. As a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and having ratified most of the major international Human Rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, both of which outlaw discrimination, the Malawian Government is bound to observe human rights provisions proscribing discrimination. The current court decision, based on outdated colonial legislation, is in violation of the country's own constitution and its international human rights commitments.


We therefore call on the Malawian government to immediately release the couple, to recognize their rights as enshrined in the Malawian Constitution and in human rights law, and to ensure protection and freedom from discrimination for all persons living in Malawi.


It is repugnant to treat people as less than human because of their sexual orientation and in marrying publicly, they did not harm anyone else or infringe on anyone else's rights. The common values that we share of solidarity, equity and human rights should enable us to work across differences and ensure citizens are not victimized and the law is upheld.


Bridget Lloyd (PHM Global Coordinator) and Linda Mashingaidze (PHM Africa Regional Liaison)

On Behalf of the PHM Global Steering Council


______________
The People’s Health Movement has a presence in more than 70 countries across the globe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating an Africa-wide People's Health Movement

By
Our manifesto As the IPHU participants from the 'Africa Group’ we have agreed that in order to strengthen the movement, we would each need to first start by working locally, strengthening the PHM activities in our respective countries, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. We commit to support each other in developing and strengthening the PHM in each of our countries as we work towards an Africa-wide People’s Health Movement. The role of PHM is to bring together organisations and individuals already working for the Right to Health under the banner of this shared vision of “Health for all, now!” PHM Africa is an organisation, not a movement. Anyone who endorses the charter and is working in the struggle for the right to health for all can join PHM Africa. The objectives and activities of our campaign are defined and developed by our members. We will strive to further the movement starting on this blog by connecting with others, sharing experiences,...
Post a Comment
Read more

PHA3-Regional Statement- East and Southern Africa

By
REGIONAL STATEMENT – EASTERN & SOUTHERN AFRICA PEOPLE’S HEALTH ASSEMBLY 3 CAPE TOWN 11 JULY 2012 For us the country circle is fundamental. Our starting point would be to identify International People’s Health University (IPHU) alumni in the country; these need to identify an issue and seek local allies who identify with or are working on the issue, begin to develop a campaign and then ask the region for support including connecting them with expertise globally. We have established four working country circles that have lessons we can learn from. We need to develop the embryonic circles in the region through outreach support from the regional level. This can be done by developing a manual based on the lessons from countries (case studies from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana Kenya, as well as experiences from other regions) consisting of principles such as: We need a rallying point or issue that is centred around the right to health (RTH) and this can take di...
Post a Comment
Read more

Presidential Summit on Universal Health in Nigeria: Excerpts

By
Shared by PHM Nigeria: --- Forwarded message ---------- From: gbenga adedayo < omindav@yahoo.com > Date: Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 12:30 PM Subject: Presidential Summit on Universal Health in Nigeria: Excerpts Dear All, This is just to share citation from the one-day presidential summit that held in Abuja on Monday (10th March). Objective of Summit according to the minister of Health: Minister of Health, Professor Oyebuchi Chukwu, said the aim of the summit, among other objectives, was to unlock the opportunities for universally accessible, effective, efficient and equitable healthcare in Nigeria. He stated that the summit was meant to demonstrate government's commitment to achieving universal health coverage in Nigeria. According to him, ensuring health for majority of people would require both availability and accessibility to health infrastructure and services. “The summit is not stopping all current efforts to achieving universal health cov...
Post a Comment
Read more