A Congolese MP is leading the latest bid to criminalise
homosexuality, but he will have to deal with a counter-campaign by LGBT
activists and health workers if he is to be successful.
Kinshasa - As Uganda comes to terms with the controversial
Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently signed into law, there some are pushing
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to follow in its footsteps.
Last December, Steve Mbikayi, an MP with the Parti Travailliste
Congolais (PTC), introduced a draft bill to the Congolese National
Assembly that would explicitly criminalise homosexuality. The DRC is one
of the relatively few African countries in which homosexual acts have
not been directly banned though there is much discrimination against
LGBT communities.
Throughout February, Mbikayi toured the country to garner popular
support for the bill. In addition to radio interviews and television
appearances, the MP spoke at a conference organised at the University of
Kinshasa where he condemned homosexuality and Western leaders for
condoning "unnatural acts" such as paedophilia and bestiality. Mbikayi
also defended his bill as being constitutional, citing article 40 of the
Congolese constitution, which states that "all individuals have the
right to marry a person of their choice of the opposite sex."
Mbikayi's bill - which has yet to be made public but which has been
seen by Think Africa Press - contains 37 articles that would render
homosexuality and transgenderism illegal. The proposed penalty for
engaging in a homosexual act is 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine of 1
million Congolese francs (about $1,000); while a transgender person
would face the same fine and a jail sentence of 3 to 12 years.
The draft also contains a passage promising that the Congolese
government will pay three quarters of any medical costs to "correct
hormonal disorders that may result in homosexuality."
"The bill emanates from the Travailliste Party's philosophy," Mbikayi
explained to Think Africa Press. "In relation to our culture,
homosexuality is an 'anti-value' that comes from abroad. Already, in our
country, seeing a man with a man or a woman with a woman is considered
scandalous. So I promised my base that I would take care of the issue
and penalise homosexuals."
Combating campaigns
If Mbikayi is successful, the DRC could criminalise homosexuality,
but this is not the first time an MP has tried to pass an
anti-homosexuality bill in the DRC. In January 2009, a law preventing
homosexuals from adopting children was passed. And in October 2010, a
bill entitled the Law Concerning Sexual Practices
Against Nature was put
forward to the National Assembly by MP and bishop Evariste Ejiba
Yamapia.
Similarly to Mbikayi's, this bill sought to modify the penal code and
law on sexual violence by making what it called "counter-nature acts" -
defined as homosexuality and zoophilia - punishable by three to five
years in prison and a fine of 200,000 Congolese francs ($200). The bill
would have also banned organisations, publications, posters, or
pamphlets 'promoting unnatural sexual acts'.
This 2010 bill, however, was never voted on in a parliamentary
session, for reasons that remain unconfirmed.
Now, Congolese LGBT
activists are hoping Mbikayi's bill goes the same way.
In response to Mbikayi's campaigning, human rights activists and
HIV/AIDS workers have started informally petitioning MPs and sensitising
the general public to the potentially damaging implications of the
bill. And some activists are optimistic they can win the public battle
over the draft law.
"In the city [Kinshasa], we know gays and transvestites who are known
and accepted by their communities.
No-one would try to attack them,"
explains Okakessema Olivier Nyamana, a lawyer from an NGO that works
with HIV-positive people. "To me, it seems like political opportunism."
This view was shared by Patrick Civava, a lawyer and employee at the
Kinshasa University's Centre for Human Rights, who sees Mbikayi's bill
as little more than attention seeking. "Seeing that homosexuality in
Africa is entering the international debate, he simply wants to draw
attention to himself," he says.
With the next parliamentary session looming, however, others are more
pessimistic. "My fear is that the bill will pass next week without
anyone noticing," says Françoise Mukuku, the executive director of Si
Jeunesse Savait, a feminist organisation that also advocates for the
rights of LGBT people in the DRC.
Meanwhile, Hilaire Mbwolie, director of a local organisation that
conducts HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, voices his concern on the
grounds of how the bill might impact on public health. "A law like that
blocks the combat against HIV/AIDS. It will make it hard to conduct HIV
testing," he says.
A rising tide?
If the proposed bill attracts the necessary support, it could be debated in the DRC's next parliamentary session on 15 March.
To try and ensure this, Mbikayi, who represents the Tshangu district
of Kinshasa, disclosed that he intends to organise sit-ins, debates and
approach various religious groups to endorse his proposals. He also
expressed an interest in meeting LGBT communities to debate with them
the bill's legitimacy. LGBT activists meanwhile will be continue their
own campaigning against the bill in the hope it never makes its way onto
the parliamentary schedule.
If the bill were to be discussed and signed into law, the DRC would
become the 38th African country to criminalise homosexuality and would
provide another sign of a rising tide of legislative homophobia across
the continent.
Joint Declaration from 134 Civil Society
and Human Rights Organizations Regarding the International Criminal
Court Prosecutor's Visit to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
The signatories of this declaration-134 Congolese and international
civil society and human rights organizations with a presence in the
Democratic Republic of Congo-welcome the arrival this week of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, in
Kinshasa.
They congratulate the Prosecutor for her office's contribution to the
fight against impunity in Congo. The convictions of Thomas Lubanga,
former president of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) and Germain
Katanga, former president of an opposed armed group, the Front de
Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI), for serious crimes committed in
Ituri in 2002 and 2003 are an important step toward justice for the
victims of grave crimes in Ituri.
The organizations also welcome the confirmation of charges hearing
against Bosco Ntaganda, held in The Hague from February 10 to 14, 2014.
Ntaganda-who managed to move from one armed group to another without
being arrested and who was even rewarded with the position of General in
the Congolese armed forces-had become a symbol of impunity in Congo. To
see him in the dock at the ICC was a powerful signal that should serve
as a warning to other commanders of armed groups and forces in eastern
Congo.
At the same time, the organizations regret that horrific crimes
continue to be committed against Congolese civilians, particularly in
the country's eastern provinces. They therefore believe that further
action by the ICC is still necessary and urgent.
Specifically, the organizations urge the ICC Prosecutor:
1) To continue investigations in Congo and quickly charge those who
bear the greatest responsibility for crimes committed against the
civilian population;
2) More specifically, to investigate senior military and political
officials who have supported the many armed groups in Congo responsible
for grave human rights violations by providing these groups with
weapons, funding, recruits and training, including officials from Congo,
Rwanda, and Uganda;
3) To improve the quality of investigations conducted by her office
as suggested by the judges in the judgment acquitting Mathieu Ngudjolo,
leader of the Front National Intégriste (FNI);
4) To continue efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes of rape,
sexual slavery and other sexual violence that has plagued the conflicts
ravaging Congo;
5) To clarify the relationship between the Office of the Prosecutor
and local intermediaries, notably in matters of selection, training,
compensation and protection;
6) To continue efforts, together with the ICC registry team, to
inform victims and communities most affected by the crimes addressed by
ICC cases. To that effect, consider opening an office in Goma, North
Kivu province, and undertaking visits to Ituri and the Kivu provinces in
the future.
7) To support national efforts to fight impunity for the most serious
crimes through fair, credible and impartial trials, notably by
expressing support to the government's proposal to establish specialized
mixed chambers within the Congolese judicial system, provided they are
independent and effective, and by pressing for the urgent adoption of
the draft legislation implementing the ICC treaty into Congolese law.
Kinshasa, March 13, 2014
Contributed by the HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH