Rights Group Warns of Rwanda Anti-Gay Draft Law

Contents:

• GAY RWANDAN MAN WHO FOUND SAFETY THE UK WARNS LGBTQ+ ASYLUM SEEKERS WILL BE ‘SEEN AS CRIMALS’
• RWANDAN GOSPEL SGER OUT AS GAY, TO UNTRY’S SHOCK
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• GAY RWANDA: HORIZON COMMUNY ASSOCIATN OF RWANDA (HOCA) REPORTS
• GAY RWANDA NEWS & REPORTS 2003-10
• GAY RWANDA 2008 (UPDATED 2016)
• GAY RWANDA 2011
• RWANDAN GOSPEL SGER COM OUT AS GAY: 'I HAVE TO LIVE MY REAL LIFE'
• 'I'M A GAY MAN OM RWANDA - ARRIVG EUROPE WAS LIKE LEAVG A LIVG HELL, YOU N'T SEND LGBT+ ASYLUM SEEKERS OVER THERE'INNOCENT, WHO FLED RWANDA AT THE AGE OF 16, HAS WARNED ABOUT THE DANGERS FOR LGBTQ+ THE UNTRY AS THE ERNMENT PLAN TO PORT ASYLUM SEEKERSGETWTLONDONBOOKMARKSHARECOMMENTSNEWSBYMATT SPIVEYCONTENT EDOR17:02, 31 OCT 2022BOOKMARKPRI PATEL'S FLAGSHIP PORTATN FLIGHT TO RWANDA WAS GROUND AFTER A LEGAL CHALLENGESIGN UP FOR NEWS AND FEATUR OM OUR DIVERSE MUNI MORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 SIGN UP FOR NEWS AND FEATUR OM OUR DIVERSE MUNI INVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!
• RIGHTS GROUP WARNS OF RWANDA ANTI-GAY DRAFT LAW
• GAY RWANDAN WOMAN SAYS ERNMENT N’T PROTECT LGBTQ+ REFUGE: ‘THEY WON’T BE SAFE’

GAY RWANDAN MAN WHO FOUND SAFETY THE UK WARNS LGBTQ+ ASYLUM SEEKERS WILL BE ‘SEEN AS CRIMALS’

Interviews wh ne people who intified as transgenr or homosexual, three women who were taed wh their babi, four men who worked as street vendors at lol markets, and a 13-year-old boy livg on the streets Kigali, nfirmed that patterns of abe that Human Rights Watch documented prevly are ongog.

RWANDAN GOSPEL SGER OUT AS GAY, TO UNTRY’S SHOCK

Several said the police or lol secury officers taed them after members of the public reported seeg them wh their partners and other lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people, or wearg women’s clothg if they were perceived not to be female. But an open letter to the UK Home Office, HRW said that " practice, lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people face stigma Rwanda" 2021, documented how the thori "arbrarily taed, harassed, sulted and beat" ne transgenr or gay people at Kigali's Gikondo Trans Centre, an unofficial tentn facily, HRW said. “We have the personal stori to share as proof of the discrimatn we face, ” said Nabonibo, 36, an acuntant and former gospel sger who me out as gay on televisn is one of a handful of Ain natns not to crimalise gay sex, but same-sex marriage is banned and LGBT+ rights groups the largely nservative Christian natn say homophobic attus are Rwandans say they are often fired, evicted, labelled as satanic, or ostracised by fay and iends if they e out, wh vlent threats forcg some to flee the Chikalogwe, director of People Agast Sufferg, Opprsn and Poverty, which has helped more than a dozen Rwandan LGBT+ refuge South Ai, scribed the cisn to host a Rwandan Pri as “brave and hopeful” march are rare Ai as they n “put targets on the backs of LGBT+ people” and lead to arrts, said Roche Kter, hate crim manager for OUT, an LGBT+ rights group South Ai, which has been hostg Pri paras sce Rwandan Pri anisers plan to host a football match between LGBT+ Rwandans and the media to help them get to know each other, as well as cktails and a fashn show.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

The Home Office has admted that lbian, gay and bisexual refuge uld be persecuted if sent to Rwanda – but still plans to fly them 4, 000 to partment’s equaly impact asssment for the policy stat there are “ncerns” over the treatment of some LGBTQI+ people the east Ain untry, and that vtigatns pot to “ill treatment” of this group beg “more than one off” the day after the Home Office said the first group of people would be rmed this week of the ernment’s tentn to relote them to Rwanda.

The first flights were expected to take place the g months, said, addg that lawyers for some of those affected were likely to lnch proceedgs to stop their the report released on Monday, the asssment says “there are ncerns over the treatment of some LGBTQI+ people but we will ntue to nsir the impact on this group and take to acunt further evince over the urse of the partnership” report not that homosexualy was crimalised 2010, but warns: “At this stage, vtigatns pot to ill treatment beg more than one off, but do not appear to be systemic. Same-sex nduct is not illegal  Rwanda, but thori there round up and arbrarily taed people regard as socially unsirable, cludg over a dozen gay and transgenr people, sex workers, street children, and others the months before a planned June 2021 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetg. He's memorized bee he wants to speak so much lour than the other voic the regn: the Ugandan print who lls gay people "disgtg(opens a new tab)" and what they do "terrible(opens a new tab), " or the Tanzanian print who said that even "ws" disapprove of homosexualy(opens a new tab).

By ntrast, Kagame's very ambivalence — his seemg unwillgns to discrimate, even as he displays disfort — is what giv Bgye the strength he needs to reach out to an anti-gay pastor or nvce a tentative journalist that LGBTI people serve rights. Although Rwanda is among a handful of Ain untri that are signatori to a 2011 Uned Natns jot statement nmng vlence agast LGBTQ people, the muny ntu to battle abe and LGBTQ Rwandans experience discrimatn at every turn: fired om jobs, disowned by relativ, nied medil treatment and even beaten up by EDAR church is willg to risk nmnatn by relig nservativ over s open acceptance of LGBTQ popular Rwandan sger Albert Nabonibo me out as gay, he lost everythg overnight: the love of his fans, iends and then found sanctuary an unexpected source: the embrace of a Kigali church.

GAY RWANDA: HORIZON COMMUNY ASSOCIATN OF RWANDA (HOCA) REPORTS

Although homosexualy is not banned the East Ain untry, many LGBTQ Rwandans experience discrimatn at every turn: fired om jobs, disowned by relativ, nied medil treatment and even beaten up by mak the evangelil Eglise De Di en Aique Rwanda (EDAR) church a urageo outlier, willg to risk nmnatn by relig nservativ over s open acceptance of LGBTQ Nabonibo told a journalist an terview 2019 that he was gay, the backlash was swift and sry. Pastors at other church said Uwiragiye was posssed by strangers jumped to the ay, shoutg homophobic slurs at the soft-spoken preacher , the church boasts two gay pastors and a 200-strong ngregatn, the majory of whom intify as heterosexual.

GAY RWANDA NEWS & REPORTS 2003-10

" - 'All about progrs' -Although Rwanda is among a handful of Ain untri that are signatori to a 2011 Uned Natns jot statement nmng vlence agast LGBTQ people, the muny ntu to battle abe and non-prof Health Development Iniative (HDI) rerd 36 s of alleged human rights vlatns agast gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and tersex people the Rwandan pal 2019. In many s most of the anti-gay laws are left over om the lonial era, one reason gay rights activists have fought vigoroly to have the laws June, the gay rights movement Ai sred a victory when a urt Botswana, upholdg the rights of LGBT people, overturned laws crimalizg nsensual same-sex there have been some 2017, Chad enacted legislatn crimalizg same-sex relatns for the first time the untry’s May, a urt Kenya led agast overturng a lonial-era law crimalizg homosexual acts between nsentg adults. Activists there who had challenged the law urt said they faced discrimatn and threats to their neighborg Uganda, a ernment mister charge of ethics is threateng to troduce another versn of an anti-gay law passed 2014, and subsequently void by the untry’s nstutnal urt, that provid for jail terms of up to life for those nvicted of engagg gay sex.

The origal versn of that bill, first troduced 2009, had clud the ath penalty for what lled aggravated acts of Rwanda, the way ahead n be challengg, Nabonibo neighborhoods Kigali are filled wh gossip about how a certa gay man might spoil other cizens, he said. Discrimatn, and even physil vlence, are a daily realy for many of those who are open about their sexual orientatn, and as a rult, many gays and lbians live a secretive life, unable to tell their fai or iends about their sexual orientatn. As the bat beg to enter the public doma, is important to unrstand the current suatn faced by gays and lbians the untry om a rights-based perspective and to unrstand what exactly the law says about homosexualy, discrimatn and dividual rights the ntext of sexual orientatn.

GAY RWANDA 2008 (UPDATED 2016)

Not only do the law fail to specifilly prohib homosexual acts, but the Constutn also ntas a number of articl which guarantee the right to privacy, opn and belief, which supports the right to eedom and privacy wh regards to an dividual’s personal life and sexual practic. This argument, apart om erroneoly claimg that homosexualy has not always existed wh the culture, also overlooks the state’s obligatn to ensure that the tradns promot adhere to the human rights prcipl and fundamental eedoms guaranteed wh the Constutn.

“ Th, the cultural valu protected by the State mt not nflict wh human rights protectns guaranteed elsewhere the Constutn, validatg the claim that homosexualy should be crimalized on the basis that is ntrary to the culture and tradnal valu of the untry. Keepg md the above discsn of the fundamental rights and eedoms guaranteed to dividuals, the creasg level of harassment and timidatn the untry around the issue of homosexualy, and recent cints which the rights of dividuals were vlated bee of their sexual orientatn, are clearly vlatn of the rights and eedoms guaranteed to dividuals by the nstutn.

GAY RWANDA 2011

This creased attentn to the issue of homosexualy Rwanda is most likely the rult of the suatn of homosexuals Uganda, where the ernment and urts have nied appeals of homosexuals and advocy groups for regnn and protectn of their basic rights. Archbishop Emmanuel Koli, the head of Rwanda’s Anglin Church and an fluential figure Rwanda’s social and polil spher, said: "Even when the ernment cis to legalize homosexualy our church will not accept s totally illegal and un-Godly.

RWANDAN GOSPEL SGER COM OUT AS GAY: 'I HAVE TO LIVE MY REAL LIFE'

Other articl, meant to breed hatred and ntempt for homosexuals, have pared homosexuals to rapists, child molters, or other sorts of sexual predators, claimg they target vulnerable dividuals and are a threat to the safety of society.

'I'M A GAY MAN OM RWANDA - ARRIVG EUROPE WAS LIKE LEAVG A LIVG HELL, YOU N'T SEND LGBT+ ASYLUM SEEKERS OVER THERE'INNOCENT, WHO FLED RWANDA AT THE AGE OF 16, HAS WARNED ABOUT THE DANGERS FOR LGBTQ+ THE UNTRY AS THE ERNMENT PLAN TO PORT ASYLUM SEEKERSGETWTLONDONBOOKMARKSHARECOMMENTSNEWSBYMATT SPIVEYCONTENT EDOR17:02, 31 OCT 2022BOOKMARKPRI PATEL'S FLAGSHIP PORTATN FLIGHT TO RWANDA WAS GROUND AFTER A LEGAL CHALLENGESIGN UP FOR NEWS AND FEATUR OM OUR DIVERSE MUNI MORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 SIGN UP FOR NEWS AND FEATUR OM OUR DIVERSE MUNI INVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!

In a recent cint, a rad broadster named Kenny om the rad statn Flash FM aired msag over a one-week perd which he discsed the fact that homosexual activists had attend a nference Nairobi to work wh other LGBT groups and were anizg themselv to beg advotg for their rights. He warned about the danger that the dividuals posed wh the society, and lled upon the public to hunt down homosexuals wh their muni, and to fd the people who are helpg homosexuals to advote for the vice, pecially their lears and partners. Stg a park Manchter’s Gay Village, a neighborhood the heart of the northern English cy, Hadi — not his real name — told AFP about his pe om persecutn and rape attempts more: Outrage at a ‘hateful’ anti-LGBTQ graduatn speech livered at an Oh high schoolHe still bears the srs.

RIGHTS GROUP WARNS OF RWANDA ANTI-GAY DRAFT LAW

On 15 January 2007, IGLHRC and ILGA sent a letter to the print of Rwanda, Pl Kagame, askg him to rensir plans to clu of a provisn that would penalize homosexualy as part of an overall revisn to the Rwandan penal currently beg bated. Commissners of the Ain Commissn on Human and Peopl’ Rights have also qutned the patibily of anti-homosexualy laws wh the Ain Charter examg the state reports of Cameroon and Uganda at the 39th and 40th Ordary Ssns of the Commissn. Crimalizg homosexualy will only hamper s efforts to fight HIV, by drivg same-sex practicg Rwanse unrground and makg them even more aaid to discs their sexual behavr wh medil personnel, unselors, their hbands, wiv and non-maral partners.

We are wrg to you today on behalf of our two anizatns—the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn (IGLHRC) and the Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA)—to ask your ernment to rensir the promulgatn of a new law that penaliz nsensual relatnships between adults of the same sex. Crimalizg homosexualy will only hamper your efforts to fight HIV, by drivg gay and bisexual Rwanse unrground and makg them even more aaid than they already are to discs their sexual behavr wh medil personnel, unselors, their hbands, wiv and partners. " There are a number of people om the muny who are bloggg both om Ai and the diaspora but is still que sporadic, " said Nigerian blogger Sokari Eke who keeps a directory of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr blogs on her own Web se Black Looks.

GAY RWANDAN WOMAN SAYS ERNMENT N’T PROTECT LGBTQ+ REFUGE: ‘THEY WON’T BE SAFE’

Etymologilly, the word homosexual is a Greek and Lat hybrid wh homos (often nfed wh the later Lat meang of “man”, as homo sapiens rivg om the Greek word for same, th nnotg sexual acts and affectns between members of the same sex, cludg lbianism.

Steven Barda, on the issue and he had this to say: “We have a problem of homosexuals and homosexualy prisons due to a number of reasons; most of the prisoners we have are genoci spects who ed rape as a weapon durg the 1994 Genoci Rwanda. “ The origal vatn letters that were sent om Maputo helped a lot to speed up the se, and we are really grateful for the support we got om LAMBDA, the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn, as well as om the lbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and tersex muny”, said a joyful Ruzdana, Project Coordator at Horizon Communy Associatn (HOCA). In their ttimony, most of them clare that when their fai realized that they were born homosexuals (meang men whose feelgs and sexual attractn n be nsired siar to those of women) and lbians (meang women whose feelgs and sexual attractn n be nsired siar to those of men), they were rejected om their hom, disrpected, and that their neighbors, iends and ernment stutns ma difficult for them.

However, even though the some of them enunter those problems, homosexuals are found all levels of society, as those we talked to rmed : high levels of natnal learship, the ary learship, among powerful vtors and bs people, among people’s reprentativ, and they do not wish to be revealed ( some have fai, i. Rwanda – Two years after the parliament brought, for bate, a Bill crimalisg homosexualy, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) anisatns Rwanda, are still uncerta about their future sce they are prently not protected by law.

Rwanda – A public admissn by the Director of Horizon Communy Associatn (HOCA), Naome Ruzdana, that homosexualy do exist Rwanda has sparked ntroversy that untry, wh public figur dubbg an abomatn that ntradicts the Rwandan culture. Rwanda – As the Rwandan ernment sums up the procs of reviewg that untry’s draft penal , the Civil Society Coaln on lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people’s rights has exprsed ncerns about article 217 of the legislatn which crimalis homosexual nduct. Kigali – After months of speculatn, the Polil Affairs Commtee the Lower Chamber of Parliament has requted fellow law makers to nsir scrappg the article on homosexualy om the penal nformy wh the Internatnal Charter on Civil rights, The New Tim n exclively reveal.

The members of the gay and lbian muny worldwi unr their Umbrella Organisatns; the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn (IGLHRC) and the Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA) had prevly petned Print Pl Kagame to rensir plans to clu a provisn that would penalize homosexualy as part of an overall revisn to the Rwandan penal The Penal reform talks are still ongog and will end tomorrow. ” The objective of the rearch was to regnise problems faced by lbians Rwanda sce 2004, followg homophobic attacks and arbrary arrts that took place Kigali, nducted between Febary and June this year by Naome Ruzdana, Director for Horizon Communy Associatn (HOCA), a gay rights anisatn Rwanda. Meanwhile late last year followg terventns om Rwandan civil society as well as the ternatnal muny and ernments, the Rwandan Government dited that Article 217 which, if clud, would crimalise homosexualy for the first time Rwanda, will not be a part of the fal text of the penal revisns.

“Rather last year’s amendments monstrated the lack of mment by state to protect the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trangenr and Intersex (LGBTI) dividuals and this has also spired the fai and the general muny to regard them as disgraced people and outsts to the culture and Rwanda social norms”, Ruzdana retorted. ” Ruzdana nclud that the study led to the realizatn of the terrible and stigmatised liv of the LGBTI muny Rwanda as cultural and relig beliefs rema the grounds which homosexualy is nmned Rwanda and have been major of the hatred of homosexuals, fuelg homophobia, discrimatn and harassment. In that report she stat “Dpe the emergence of a small, though largely unrground, movement to beg advotg the rights of sexual mory groups, many (most) Rwanda ntue to ny the existence of homosexualy the untry, or rtrict s reach to limed segments of the populatn….

“Rwanda’s law is currently silent on the issue of homosexualy: neher the 2003 Constutn nor the 1977 Penal Co make mentn of any crime related to homosexualy… Not only do the law fail to specifilly prohib homosexual acts, but the Constutn also ntas a number of articl which guarantee the right to privacy, opn and belief, which supports the right to eedom and privacy wh regards to an dividual’s personal life and sexual practic.

As if this ti of homophobia were not enough to swamp any activist, a 2007 newspaper article entled “Can Rwanda Tolerate Homosexualy, ” the thor pared homosexualy to “moral genoci, ” and acced those who practice homosexualy of harborg “genocidal iology. She ntued, “this argument, apart om erroneoly claimg that homosexualy has not always existed wh the culture, also overlooks the state’s obligatn to ensure that the tradns promot adhere to the human rights prcipl and fundamental eedoms guaranteed wh the Constutn.

Refutg the myth of no native homosexuals Rwanda, he said he has about half a dozen gay iends Kigali who get together at var clubs or diss the cy and mix wh the mostly straight crowds at plac such as the Cadillac Cafe/Rtrant, the B-Club, the Bourbon Café the Sky Hotel lounge and the ever popular Pla KBC dis. Stg Kampala at a favore rtrant, Ruzdana said, “though there is no law crimalizg homosexualy–and Rwanda has clear procral guarante place to ern practic for the tentn, arrt, trial and sentencg of dividuals acced of crim–vlatn of the procr seems to be monplace pecially for homosexuals.

But queer Rwandans face discrimatn, blackmail, police entrapment, harassment and, y, Anglin Church Rwanda has nmned "non-biblil behavrs" by Wtern church that support LGBT clergy and parishners— 2014, Archbishop Emmanuel Koli lled homosexualy, "moral genoci, " sistg sexualy should only be exprsed wh the bounds of a marriage between a man and a 2016, Print Pl Kagame sisted homosexualy "hasn't been our problem—and we don't tend to make our problem.

Dpe Rwanda havg jettisoned a provisn the nstutn that crimalised homosexualy 2010, the guaranteeg eedom of associatn and worship and ensurg sexual mory groups are protected by the law, and although the untry is a signatory to the Uned Natns Declaratn on Sexual Orientatn and Genr Inty, members of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) muny and anisatns the East Ain natn ntue to face creased discrimatn and stigma om fay and muny members. Ultimately, Isange Rwanda is lookg to grow the anisatn orr to enomilly empower s members, create rmatn platforms for them, fluence polici around equal rights and treatments by workg wh the ernment and engage more wh lol lears to addrs homophobia and stigma.

A Human Rights Watch report last year found that Rwandan thori round up and arbrarily taed more than a dozen gay and transgenr people, sex workers, street children, and others the months before a planned high-profile ternatnal nference June same report llected ttimoni om LGBTIQ people Rwanda who alleged that secury officials acced them of “not reprentg Rwandan valu” do not have laws agast homosexual and genr non-nformg nduct. “This don’t jt perta to gay people – this is extend to the qutn around children, fai, all the differeg health needs of dividuals that we’re not providg further ment on this – jt for the general reason of not potentially tippg off smugglg gangs to target vulnerable people. The amend language for Article 217 acquired by the group would give offenrs - those who "practice, " "enurage, " or "sensize" someone of the same sex towards homosexual relatns - a prison term of five to 10 years addn to a hefty fe.

"If this bill pass then emphasiz on state-sponsored homophobia and also muny homophobia, bee almost jtifi the e vlence agast LGBTI [Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Intersex] persons based upon the fact that will crimalize their inty, " said Kimani.

Samuel Sayers, a 25-year-old bisexual man om Sat Vcent, said that part of the reason he do not broach the subject wh his parents is that they go to a church where homophobic views are exprsed and that fluenc their views on sexualy.

Randolph Man, a 22-year-old gay man om Sat Vcent, said that January 2022, he tried to get a job at a supermarket and the person rponsible for hirg told him, “The [other] workers will not be pleased” about havg “his kd, ” referrg to his sexualy, “workg there.