According to Godfred Yeboah Dame, attorney general and minister of justice, the government is committed to defending the human rights of all marginalized groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.
At the United Nations Human Rights record review in Geneva, Switzerland, concerns about the Bill for the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, which is currently before Parliament, were voiced by the United Kingdom and other nations, prompting the author of the statement to make these remarks.
Godfred Dame, in his response to the concerns raised, assured that the government will ensure that the rights of all persons, including minority groups, are not violated.
“In response to the questions raised by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland regarding the protection of the human rights of LGBT persons and measures to avoid discrimination against such persons, Ghana is committed to ensuring the protection of all persons from violence.”
“As indicated, the State prohibits all state of violence and brutality targeted at any group of persons in Ghana including all minority groups. All types of violence when reported are effectively investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted.”
Ghana’s Parliament is currently debating an anti-LGBTQI+ bill that seeks to criminalize activities of persons who hold out as lesbian, gay, transgender, transsexual, or queer, persons who hold divergent socio-cultural notions of sex, persons with a biological anomaly regarding their gender at birth, persons involved in the promotion of or advocacy and funding for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer related activities, as well as persons who conduct surgical procedures to reassign an individual’s gender except for medical purposes.
The Bill further imposes a duty on citizens and relevant independent constitutional bodies to promote and protect proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values.
Additionally, the Bill nullifies any union or marriage that is formed between people who are the same sex or who have undergone gender or sex reassignment.
Jesus Dame Some provisions of the anti-LGBTQI+ measure were deemed unconstitutional in November of last year.
The Attorney General expressed his concerns about the legislation in a letter to the head of the Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs. He added that some clauses would infringe basic freedoms and rights of individuals, including the right to privacy.
