The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is calling for calm among the public and for them to approach the national conversation about the LGBTQI+ Community with regards to Ghanaian values and norms.
A statement by the Commissioner, Joseph Whittal, said it has observed with concern public discourse on the LGBTQI+ community issue, in the past few weeks from various groups, in the media, especially, social media.
The Commission acknowledged that the discourse around Lesbians and Gays in the country is highly emotive, sensitive, divisive and has polarized the society. It is against this that CHRAJ noted that Ghana as a nation has ratified several international human rights instruments.
These treaties impose obligations on the State to respect, fulfil and protect the rights of all persons within its jurisdiction. Additionally, Article 15 (1) of the 1992 constitution is quite categorical that “the dignity of all persons be inviolable “whilst Article 17(1) guarantees equal protection for all persons before the law.
The Commission recognises that section 104 of the criminal and other offences ACT, 1960 (Act 29) proscribes unnatural carnal knowledge.
CHRAJ in the statement emphasized that most members of the LGBTQI+ community are Ghanaians, who come from Ghanaian homes and families, and live in Ghanaian communities.
There is therefore the need for tolerance which is reinforced by Article 28 of the African Charter.
The statement said, members of the LGBTQI+ community being human are equally entitled to protection of their human dignity as expressed in Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution, while their sexual orientation may not conform to the prevailing Ghanaian values and norms, it does not cast a doubt on their humanity and therefore entitled to equal protection under the laws of Ghana.
In this regard the commission strongly urges the public to desist from utterances and actions that have the propensity to occasion aggression hatred and violence against members of the LGBTQI+ community.