By Melanie Nathan, May 23, 2024
African Human Rights Coalition is issuing a warning to Ghana's LGBTQI+ community: Ghana recently enacted a new harsh anti-LGBTI legislation that is pending the President's attestation and/or the Court hearing and ruling on challenges to its constitutionality. This new law criminalizes mere identity, journalists, allies, advocates, and more. Imagine going to jail for "holding out" as LGBTQIAA+. In the meantime the current law can send people to prison for LGBTQI+ sexual acts, as unclear as that draconian law is. All os this licenses many harms - discrimination and persecution, including arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, sexual assault, corrective rape, mob and vigilante "justice" and reactions, reparative therapies, blackmail and killings.
At this time state actors, police and members of the government are acting as if the new law is already enforceable. Yet it is not fully enacted. AHRC issues the following warning: 1. Your only line of defense in Ghana right now is to invest in your self protection: Remain discreet and keep your guard up. This involves the following and more:
2.Use your common sense when agreeing to meet with journalists. Protect yourself. Do not meet anywhere physically, except remotely - and do what you need to do to protect your whereabouts;
3. BEWARE of social media. Your Facebook page, Instagram, TikTok, etc., your texts, your emails, as safe and private as you think they may be, even using false names can be used to track you, entrap you by state and non-state actors alike, and in evidence against you, now and when the new law is enacted and followed.
4. BE CAREFUL who your TRUST! Information can be sold. Encourage your friends to get rid of your contact information on their devices and try and find a way to keep in touch differently. This may mean deleting information, chats, whatsapp groups, weekly - to limit exposure, We know government can get around this precautions, but al least if you are arrested the police will not have access to your contacts. There is so much more... this is just the start.
COUNTRY CONDITIONS EXPERT WITNESS
CONTACT: Melanie Nathan, B.A. LL.B commissionermnathan@gmail.com
Melanie Nathan, Executive Director of African Human Rights Coalition is a qualified country of origin expert witness in the United States and global immigration courts, providing expert written country conditions reports and testimony for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, non-binary, LGBTQI + asylum seekers from African Countries, to include activists, allies and human rights defenders.
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