| a "United States of Africa" will be a danger to LGBTI human rights!!!! |
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It is our fears that citizens of South Africa will be adversely affected by the "single African government" intended to rule such a union because of the number of countries in Africa which flagrantly violate the human rights of their citizen's. All economic factors aside, of paticular concern is the predominent state-sponsered persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our fear is that South Africa will be dragged into a situation where our own constitutional laws guarnteeing human rights equality will be overridden and replaced by a "general" constitution, resulting in situations similar to in Uganda, Nigeria, Somali and most recently in Ethiopia. We consider it unlikely that a union of countries under one government can funtion productively if all member states differ drastically and fundamentally on the defination of "human rights" and whom it should or should not be extended. In Africa it is illegal to be gay in 29 countries and legal in only 7, with a handfull of countries wich so far remain undicided. In fact only at the end of January this year, Ethopia has also begun announcing constitututional ammendments where same gender marriage and gay adoption is legal and GLBTIQ human rights and equality are legally assured with any level of credibility. We forsee a clear risk that human rights across any such union will suffer-including here in South Africa. Some African countries are run illegitimately by dictators-including Libya, whose currant head of state siezed power in 1969 and has since ironically managed to get voted head of the African Union and has made use of this position to push for this " United States of Africa". Random examples of state endorsed homophobia and hetrosexism and terror abound in the continent, even in the speeches of South Africa's own ruling party president-and potentially the next head of state. We object to South Africa building relations with countries who flagrantly abuse human rights of their own citizens -and even seek to unify with them-it is a very worrying proposition indeed, especially where GLBTIQ equality and human rights are concerned-what if this " African Parliament" decides to impose the draconian anti-gay so called "morality" laws prevalent in these 29 countries on citizens of all member states?. These days South Africa's currant government seems to jump at every chance to comment on affairs such as the recent violence in Gazza-but refused to sign the 2008 UN Declerations addressing GLBTIQ equality and human rights on "principal" and everytime some or other African banana republic criminalizes and persecutes it's own citizens-say absolutley nothing. We urge the South Africa government to place the best interests of ALL its own citizens above the call to unite with nations who show no regard whatsoever for human rights and equality. |
