Human Rights Watch: Anti-gay laws promote vlence, discrimatn St. Vcent

Contents:

• TANZANIAN GAYS NETWORK (T.G.N)
• GAY TANZANIA TRAVEL GUI
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TANZANIA
• HUNDREDS HIDG AS TANZANIA LNCH ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN
• WHAT DO MEAN TO BE GAY TANZANIA?
• TANZANIA GAY TRAVEL
• HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT

TANZANIAN GAYS NETWORK (T.G.N)

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As well as clampg down on an existg ban preventg pregnant girls om attendg school, Tanzania has ma illegal to qutn official statistics and cracked down on LGBT rights a untry where homosexualy is already illegal. Unr current law, homosexualy is illegal Tanzania and a nvictn for havg “rnal knowledge of any person agast the orr of nature” (broadly enforced agast men havg sex wh men) n lead to 30 years or more jail. In October, Pl Makonda, the ernor of Dar -Salaam, Tanzania’s most populo cy, announced the formatn of a surveillance team dited to huntg down gay people.

GAY TANZANIA TRAVEL GUI

In an terview wh Dizzim Onle, a Tanzanian entertament group October, Makonda urged the public to report gay people to the thori, boastg that he had already received thoands of msag and hundreds of nam to vtigate. 3, acrdg to Amnty Internatnal, 10 men were arrted for allegedly participatg a same-sex weddg ceremony on Zanzibar, a semi-tonomo archipelago where gay male sex and lbianism are illegal. “Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people Tanzania have already been subjected to growg vlence, harassment and discrimatn over the past two years, ” she said a statement.

Tanzania ma ternatnal headl October 2018 when a regnal official, Pl Makonda, claimed to have tablished a task force to round up all men spected of beg gay the astal cy of Dar Salaam, “tt” them for homosexual nduct, and jail them for life. In a remarkable velopment given Print John Magufuli’s monstrable difference to ternatnal opn and the environment of hostily toward lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people that he has stutnalized, Magufuli affirmed a meetg wh World Bank officials that the ernment would end “discrimatory actns related to harassment and/or arrts” on the basis of sexual orientatn. In April 2019, wh disregard to both eedom of associatn and the right to health, and clear monstratn of Tanzania’s stutnalized homophobia, the ernment formally registered Communy Health Edutn and Advocy Servic (CHESA), one of Tanzania’s most tablished anizatns workg to advance health and rights for LGBT people.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TANZANIA

In ntrast, sce 2016, the Mistry of Health has prohibed muny-based anizatns om nductg outreach on HIV preventn to men who have sex wh men and other key populatns, based on the pretext that such anizatns are engaged the “promotn of homosexualy. ” The Mistry closed drop- centers that provid HIV ttg and other servic to key populatns, n many s by ternatnal agenci, assertg that the centers, too, were volved “homosexualy promotnal activi. Issue circulars strictly prohibg health workers om nductg or assistg anal examatns as a means of seekg evince of homosexual nduct, on the grounds that takg part such examatns vlat medil ethics and that the examatns are unscientific and serve no medil purpose.

In total, twenty-three rponnts were men who have sex wh men who self-intified wh a range of terms cludg gay, bisexual, and kuchu (an clive term ed by Ugandan LGBT activists). July 2, 2016: The Dar Salaam regnal missner (an admistrative official appoted by the print), Pl Makonda, mak an flammatory speech which he threatens to arrt gays as well as anyone who “follows” homosexuals on social media, and to ban anizatns that “promote homosexualy.

Augt 1, 2016: CHESA receiv a letter om the Registrar of NGOs providg notice of his tent to register the anizatn based on s alleged promotn of homosexualy. Augt 11, 2016: Deputy Mister Kigwangalla issu a statement a newspaper and on social media, summong LGBT Voice, a group that had spoken out the media agast state-sponsored homophobia, to appear at his office the followg day. December 14, 2016: Police raid a meetg on health and human rights at a hotel Dar Salaam, arrtg eight participants and terrogatg them about whether the meetg was a “gay people’s meetg.

HUNDREDS HIDG AS TANZANIA LNCH ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN

January 2017: Police arrt more men on spicn of homosexualy Zanzibar and take them to Mnazi Mmoja Hospal, where doctors subject them to forced anal examatns. Febary 2017: On Twter, Deputy Health Mister Kigwangalla orrs the arrt of three social media personali, cludg Kaoge Mvuto (the transgenr woman who provid the 2016 terview to Clouds TV, equently referred to rrectly media reports as a “gay man”), for allegedly “promotg homosexualy. June 22, 2017: Print Magufuli acc foreigners of brgg homosexualy to Tanzania, statg that “even ws, even goats” don’t have same-sex relatns: his first known public statement on LGBT issu.

September 15, 2017: Police Zanzibar raid a workshop anized by a muny-based anizatn for parents of members of key populatn groups about HIV preventn and treatment, arrtg 20 participants, volunteers, and staff, on grounds of “promotg homosexualy. October 29, 2018: Pl Makonda, the regnal missner of Dar Salaam, giv a prs nference llg on Tanzanians to send him nam of any spected gay men as well as people g the ter for sex work, and threatens to lnch a “hunt” for them the followg week.

November 7, 2018: The World Bank, Tanzania’s largt donor, spends visg missns to Tanzania, announcg that due to “harassment and discrimatn agast the Lbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgenr (LGBT+) muny, all visg missns to Tanzania have been spend wh immediate effect until we are assured of the safety and secury of all employe.

WHAT DO MEAN TO BE GAY TANZANIA?

Open discsn of sexualy is largely taboo Tanzania, [62] and prr to Magufuli’s electn, public discsn of sexual orientatn and genr inty was almost nonexistent apart om ocsnal homophobic statements om policians.

TANZANIA GAY TRAVEL

The law do not prohib “homosexualy” self, and no law prohibs “promotg homosexualy, ” although this bog charge has at tim been ed by Tanzanian police as a jtifitn for arrts. ”[78] Several days later, on July 2, Dar Salaam’s regnal missner, Pl Makonda, gave an flammatory speech pledgg to arrt gays as well as anyone who “followed” openly gay people on social media.

Makonda, an appoted admistrative official who claimed to have Print Magufuli’s blsg for his remarks, also pledged to ban anizatns that “promote homosexualy. The posssn of HIV and health modi associated wh or labelled for e by gay men and other men who have sex wh men (such as lubrints) has been ed as evince crimal s.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT

Fear of negative nsequenc n prevent uptake of health servic and hr gay men and other men who have sex wh men om disclosg their sexual behavur to health-re provirs.

[115] On July 19, the Health Mistry published a statement rtatg the ban, claimg the distributn of lubrint “nflicts wh our ctoms, ” and opposg the so-lled “promotn of homosexualy. Human Rights Watch asked 26 of the gay and bisexual men and trans people we terviewed 2018 and 2019 whether they had any accs to water-based or sili-based lubrint. Jephter, a 27-year-old gay man Dar Salaam, said “Even gettg KY [jelly] is a challenge, bee if you go to a pharmacy to buy , they want a prcriptn om a doctor, and if you don’t have one, they often won’t sell to you.

Health Mister Mwalimu claimed a “special vtigatn” by the Mistry of Constutnal Affairs had found that “apart om engagg HIV and AIDS activi, some implementg partners were promotg homosexualy, ntrary to the laws of the land. Osman, a 24-year-old HIV-posive gay man, said that October 2017, a health worker at a ernment hospal, Sza Palta, where he sought out HIV treatment, told him, “You’re a good boy, why do you have gay sex? Victor, a gay man, said that when he went to Mwananyamala hospal 2018 wh symptoms of what he thought might be anal gonorrhea, a doctor shouted at him, “Why do you do this?

Victor, a gay man who said that he ed to do sex work, told Human Rights Watch: “I have had sex wh doctors two tim orr to get servic – wh two different doctors. In a ntext of overall tolerance toward eedom of associatn and exprsn, bed wh stutnalized homophobia, is not surprisg that LGBT civil society anizatns are unr attack.

Mister of Jtice Harrison Mwakyembe’s statement at a regnal ernment meetg Mbeya July 2016 that he would work wh the Home Affairs Mistry to prosecute any anizatns that were supportg or promotg homosexualy, cludg those that distributed lubrint, marked the begng of a drawn-out attack on anizatns workg on LGBT people’s accs to health and rights.

[178] The law enforcement officials searched the office, seized reports, and terrogated CHESA’s executive director John Kashiha and other staff about their alleged promotn of homosexualy. Dar Salaam police missner Lazaro Mambosasa went to urt twice the followg days, on October 23 and 24, seekg thorizatn to rry out forced anal examatns on the lawyers and activists  an attempt to obta evince of homosexual nduct.

In recent years, untri such as Lebanon, Kenya, and Tunisia have taken steps toward banng forced anal examatns homosexualy prosecutns, regnizg that the exams nstute a grave abe. In Febary 2017, Deputy Health Mister Kigwangalla publicly orred the arrt of three social media personali, cludg Kaoge (the transgenr woman who provid the 2016 terview to Clouds TV, rrectly scribed media reports as a gay man) and two other young people wh vibrant Instagram prenc, for allegedly “promotg homosexualy.