41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.
May 2007, Accra Ghana.
Honourable Commissioners:
I am Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay, Pastor of House of Rainbow, Lagos Nigeria which is part of the Universal Fellowship of the Metropolitan Community Churches. Our flock is an inclusive gospel ministry of Jesus Christ, for all children of God, regardless of age, gender, race, tribe, language, marital or employment status, ability, disability, health status or sexual orientation.
As a son of Nigeria, an African child, and a strong supporter of peace, freedom and development in Nigeria, I would like to draw your attention to a bill currently before the Nigerian National Parliament. On January 19, 2006, Minister Ojo presented to the Federal Executive Council an “Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith.” Nigeria’s criminal code—a relic of British colonial rule—already penalizes consensual homosexual conduct between adults with fourteen years’ imprisonment. This new legislation goes well beyond banning gay marriage and instead attacks freedom of expression, conscience, association, and assembly. The proposed law contradicts Nigeria’s commitments under international law, including articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which promise individuals equality before the law, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which protects the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, conscience, assembly and association.
The law would provide five years imprisonment for any person who “is involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organizations… or meetings.” Gay and lesbian people could even face prosecution for showing affection in the privacy of our own homes. The bill criminalizes acts of peaceful expression or association in defense of lesbians and gay rights and rolls back hard-won press freedoms. By punishing discussion about homosexuality, the Bill will undermine Nigeria’s struggle to combat HIV/AIDS at a time when appreciable progress is being made in the fight against the pandemic. In its totality, the proposed law threatens basic freedoms enjoyed by all Nigerians and would undermine Nigeria’s leadership in Africa and its standing in the rest of the world.
Even though the Bill has yet to pass, its introduction has increased incidents of violence against gay and lesbian people. Men and women suspected of being gay or lesbian have been beaten up by mobs in Abuja and Lagos and students have been expelled from schools. Gays and lesbians in Nigeria and on the continent face huge risks including arbitrary arrest, blackmail, rape as well as expulsion from housing and health care services.
In solidarity with an emergency appeal sent to this Honourable Commission by the Coalition of African Lesbians, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, we humbly ask that this Honourable Commission express its deep rejection of this bill which threatens to roll back the rights of African people and that the Nigerian government be reminded of its obligations under the African Charter and the violation of these rights which are inherent in the Same-Sex (Prohibition) Bill.
Thank you very much.
Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay
Pastor, House of Rainbow
Universal Fellowship of the Metropolitan Community Churches
Lagos, Nigeria
