Over forty African civil society organizations, in a statement
released today, expressed their deep concern at the imprisonment
and prosecution of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga under
provisions of Malawi's penal code criminalizing private sexual
behavior. They called on the Malawian government to drop all
charges against both individuals and repeal the discriminatory
criminal law.

On 28 December, police officers arrested Monjeza and Chimbalanga
at their home, charging them under sections 153 and 156 of the
Malawian penal code for “unnatural offences” and “indecent
practices between males.” This happened two days after Monjeza and
Chimbalanga conducted a traditional engagement ceremony, an event
that was widely reported in the Malawian press. Chimbalanga was
forced to undergo a medical examination to determine whether they
had engaged in sexual intercourse, and both were subjected to a
psychiatric evaluation. They have been denied bail and remain in
custody.

The group of endorsers, which includes organizations from over a
dozen African countries, warned that such criminal prosecution
would greatly undermine efforts to respond effectively to the HIV
pandemic, stating: “The charges against Monjeza and Chimbalanga
have caused a widespread fear among persons engaged in same-sex
relations—a group the Malawian government has recognized is
vulnerable to discrimination and critical to its efforts to
effectively respond to the HIV epidemic.”

According to media reports Dr. Mary Shawa, the Principal
Secretary for Nutrition, HIV and AIDS in the Malawian President's
Office recently acknowledged the need to “incorporate a human
rights approach in the delivery of HIV and AIDS services to…men who
have sexual intercourse with men.” She further asked men who have
sex with men [MSM] to come out in the open in order to assist in
HIV prevention efforts.

The statement warns that “This cannot be done given recent
statements by governmental officials denouncing MSM, which has
served to further drive this already vulnerable community further
underground.”

Discrimination against men who have sex with men has
increasingly raised public health concerns in the African region,
where HIV rates among this group are up to ten times that of the
general population in large part because they are systematically
marginalised in HIV prevention and treatment interventions due to
politically driven hostility. United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon has previously warned that such discrimination is unethical
and “makes no sense from a health perspective”.

The statement which was also supported by almost twenty
additional individuals and international civil society
organizations further highlighted how sections 153 and 156 of the
penal code violated fundamental rights guaranteed under the Malawi
Constitution, including the rights to be free from discrimination
and human dignity.

Undule D.K. Mwakasungula, the Executive Director of the Centre
for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi, stressed that “HIV
and human rights cannot be separated. We need our governments to
support progressive approaches to health that are not based on
prejudiced notions of morality, but on evidence-based responses to
the reality in our region.”


For further information please contact:

Priti Patel, +27 76 808 0505, Southern Africa Litigation Centre
(SALC), South Africa

Undule D.K. Mwakasungula, + 265 999 664 176, Centre for Human
Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Malawi

Michaela Clayton, +264 81 127 2367, AIDS & Rights Alliance for
Southern Africa (ARASA), Namibia

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