Anti-gay bill: Custodial sentencing is not going to solve the problem – Catholic Bishops

“And you are not going to put them there forever because they are going to be there for three to six months.

“And then they practice this and come out as more experts at it than when you sent them there. Then you release them back into society. So, what is going to happen?”

“That is why we were concerned about a punishment that would correct them, and reform them. So if the government is going this way or if the parliament is going this way, that is why we are suggesting that in the prison there, they should add more of the corrective and reformative measures,” he told Accra-based Citi FM on Thursday, February 29.

Earlier, Majority Leader Afenyo-Markin insisted the custodial sentencing regime prescribed in the anti-gay bill was draconian.

To him, throwing people into jail for homosexuality will not cure the problem.

Speaking in an interview with Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3 on Thursday, February 29, the Effutu lawmaker said, “I am not here being an advocate for LGBTQ; I am looking at how we can reintegrate, how we can deal with the issue in a way that it will not get worse.

“Sodomy takes its root in prisons; people get sodomized in our prisons and our cells. I am a practitioner of the law, I have done criminal cases for many years, and sometimes when your clients are being sent to cells, the police themselves will tell you to make sure that he is not taken to Accra Central. You ask why, and they tell you that this thing is done there. They tell us. Why are we pretending that we don’t know the everyday story on our streets?

“How do conviction and incarceration solve the problem? For me, on balance, since it is a behavioural challenge, engage some clinical psychologists on it. I engaged them before my views publicly, and three of them I engaged, told me clearly that when dealing with issues of behavioural addictions, you don’t play hardball to get solutions, do you incarcerate a drug addict? You create a space for rehabilitation, and that rehabilitation will require some therapy or some procedure to get the person out of that behaviour. You don’t put the person in a situation where that behaviour will be reinforced.

“So if you say the person is gay, or lesbian and you throw the person in jail, will you get the result that you want? I beg to differ.”

Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday, February 28 passed the anti-LGBTQI bill after successfully going through all three reading stages.

“In the third reading of the anti-LGBTQ bill passed by parliament, the bill has been passed, ” TV3’s Parliamentary correspondent Komla Klutse reported.

One of the sponsors of the bill, Ningo-Prampram Lawmaker Samuel Nartey George, told journalists after the passage, “We want to thank Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who was very instrumental in passing this bill.

“The house has stood united; an overwhelming majority of both sides of the house have supported this bill,” he added.

Before the passage, a human rights coalition, comprising CDD Ghana, “the big 18” and others had called on President Akufo-Addo not to assent to the bill in its current state.

Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, who is part of the group, noted at a press conference in Accra on February 27, 2024 noted that the bill will infringe on the fundamental human rights of many, including the media, as enshrined by the 1992 Constitution.

Professor Gadzekpo said “We observed that proposals to amend the Bill to substitute community services for in castration that was made by the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Mr. Afenyo-Markin was unfortunately rejected. Although his amendments were opposed by the majority of the house, leading to the removal of the proposed amendments, we appreciate his effort aimed at reforming our justice system.”

On Wednesday, February 21, the then Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, withdrew his amendments to the anti-LGBTIQ+ bill, which seeks to impose a prison sentence, paving the way for the bill to be considered for passage in the coming days.

However, with the coalition of civil society organizations and interest groups maintained, the bill must be looked at.

“Ghana is a secular and multi-religious country with over 50 ethnic groups with different cultural practices and beliefs. Any attempt to create a single cultural value system for Ghana erases the beautiful cultural mosaic that makes us a unique people.” Professor Gadzekpo posited.

She further explained, “It is for this reason that the constitution abolishes all practices and laws detrimental to people’s health and well-being, even in the name of culture and tradition.”

The coalition noted that the bill would undermine journalists’ ability to speak freely. The bill in its current form states, “Any person that uses the media to broadcast, slash, or advocate on LGBTQ+ topics faces a prison sentence of up to three years.”

The group believed that “this places a heavy restriction on journalists, bloggers, influencers, and various social media users who produce or publish content, especially those who work in the field of human rights.”