Young Peoples and Human Rights Ghana

Begin forwarded message: From: Fernando Zarco < fernandozarco@gmail.com > Date: August 9, 2011 3:00:08 PM GMT To: princegh@hotmail.com < princegh@hotmail.com > Subject: Analysis- Understanding the drivers of homophobia in Ghana Hi Prince, how are you? I am so sorry about this note, hope everything is ok, and remember, we are fighting together against homophobia. Take care, Fernando.   humanitarian news and analysis a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Analysis: Understanding the drivers of homophobia in Ghana DAKAR, 1 August 2011 (PlusNews) - Recent condemnation of homosexuality by religious and political leaders in Ghana has led to a climate of fear pre...

Hello! Check out this neat website I came across. You can find it here: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/11/25/amnesty-urges-cameroon-to-release-men-on-gay-sex-charges/ Thanks for reading! ---------------------------- This e-mail was sent because you were recommended via FreeTellaFriend.com - To stop all e-mails coming from us, please visit: http://www.freetellafriend.com/?unsubscribe=macdarlingc.memory@blogger.com

Many of you are familiar with these words from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an incredible man of faith revered the world over. “Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity - or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds…. We knew (apartheid) was wrong… the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity. It is time to stand up against another wrong. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are… part of the human family… part of God's family… part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms…. Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear. And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away fr...

In the face of the brouhaha that has recently engulfed the Ghanaian society concerning homosexuality, DAILY GUIDE has stumbled on a classic example of the reality of gay marriages in the country. Nana Kwabena Bennie, popularly called Komfo Bennie of Apentamadi shrine near Sefwi Wiawso in the Western Region, has told DAILY GUIDE that his penis had indeed mysteriously vanished one night in 2010 and was replaced with a vagina because he disobeyed the gods he served, and that he later got married in a grand style. “Whether people believed it or not, I had the practical experience after some excruciating pains in my waist and later my penis turned into a vagina after I woke up from sleep. The gods had warned me earlier not to marry, but as a man I couldn’t help it and married Nana Ama from Amafie near Sefwi-Wiawso and brought her to my shrine at Apentamadi”. The fetish priest said he immediately informed his biological father, Kofi Nyame and a certain Aunt Esi, Gyantuahemaa, of his unusual ...

Residents of Salamba, a suburb of Tamale got the shock of their lives last week when a used condom was discovered in a delicious ‘AYOYO SOUP’ prepared by a house wife for her husband and his friends. The shocking episode occurred in one of the respectable homes in the area and set tongues wagging at how such an abomination could occur in such a respected house. Information gathered by the Daily Democrat indicates that some youth in the area met in the afternoon to relax under a shed and to share the meals prepared by their wives. According to a source, it was during one of the routine passing of meals like the biblical story of the early Christians that a condom was found in the Ayoyo soup and Tuo Zaafi (TZ) brought by the wife of one of the gentlemen. The source disclosed that half way through the meal, one of the men pulled out a used condom from the slimy vegetable soup resulting in instant vomiting. Fortunately, however, none of the gentlemen needed hospitalization. They however ac...

The FDB wishes to caution the general public of the presence on the market of a FAKE brand of condoms - PREVENTIVE PLUS DOTTED. The fake Preventive Plus Dotted Condom was imported by Orackie Enterprise, Kumasi and had no manufacturer's name or address though information on the packaging indicated that the product was manufactured in China. The said fake PREVENTIVE PLUS DOTTED Condom did not meet the acceptable standard when tested at the laboratory and therefore its safety cannot be guaranteed by the FDB. The public is hereby being advised to desist from using the said fake PREVENTIVE PLUS DOTTED Condom since the use of unsafe condoms could lead to contraction of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV AIDS. The general public is further advised to report to the nearest FDB Office anyone found stocking, distributing or retailing the unregistered and fake PREVENTIVE PLUS DOTTED Condoms. Pharmacies, Licensed Chemical Shops, Supermarkets and all other outlets having in stock the ...

Thursday, November 03, 2011 ACCRA, Ghana (AFP) — Ghana's leader yesterday vowed not to back any bid to legalise homosexuality in the west African country, scoffing at Britain's threat to cut off aid to countries that fail to recognise gay rights. "I, as president of this nation, will never initiate or support any attempts to legalise homosexuality in Ghana," John Atta Mills told reporters. British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the weekend that his country will consider withholding aid from countries that do not recognise gay rights. JOHN ATTA MILLS… will never initiate or support any attempts to legalise homosexuality in Ghana Atta Mills said Cameron "...does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those that exist" in Britain. Cameron made the threat after Commonwealth leaders failed to adopt a recommendation to call for an end to homophobic la...

The office of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, says threats made by the Prime Minister to suspend aid to African countries that prohibit gay rights was in the context of the efforts of the British government to promote human rights around the world. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in London, Ms Helen Bower, a spokesperson at the Number 10 Downing Street Press Office, said “the UK Government is at the forefront of work to promote human rights around the world, and regularly criticise governments which violate those rights”. Reacting to media reports in Ghana in respect of the United Kingdom’s financial aid to the Third World and respect for human rights, Ms Bower explained that efforts by the British government included working to end religious intolerance and persecution, as well as discrimination against individuals on the basis of their sexuality. She said the issues were not only on gays as the Ghanaian media had contextualized it. At the just-ended summit of the Commonw...

Nana Oye Lithur, Human Rights lawyer A Human Rights lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur, has stated that President Mills’ denouncement of gayism does not set aside the guaranteed constitutional rights of all persons including homosexuals in Ghana. She said irrespective of the President’s abhorrence of homosexuality and Ghana’s cultural and social stigma against it, gays do not infringe on any legal or constitutional provisions while exercising their sexual preference. She said Ghana’s laws and Criminal Code are silent on homosexuality. In his recent response to British Premier David Cameron’s aid cut threat to anti-gay countries, President Mills said decisively that he will never legalise homosexuality. However, in an interview with Citi News on Thursday, Oye Lithur said the president is entitled to his opinion, but underscored the need to also respect the hum...

Nana Oye Lithur, Human Rights lawyer A Human Rights lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur, has stated that President Mills’ denouncement of gayism does not set aside the guaranteed constitutional rights of all persons including homosexuals in Ghana. She said irrespective of the President’s abhorrence of homosexuality and Ghana’s cultural and social stigma against it, gays do not infringe on any legal or constitutional provisions while exercising their sexual preference. She said Ghana’s laws and Criminal Code are silent on homosexuality. In his recent response to British Premier David Cameron’s aid cut threat to anti-gay countries, President Mills said decisively that he will never legalise homosexuality. However, in an interview with Citi News on Thursday, Oye Lithur said the president is entitled to his opinion, but underscored the need to also respect the hum...

A legislator in Ghana's Parliament Gifty Ohene Konadu has jumped to the defence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has served notice to anti-gay African states to relax laws on homosexuals or face aid cut from the UK. Cameron has come under intense lampoon across Africa for what many describe as interference in the affairs of sovereign nations of the continent and a clear disregard for African culture. However, speaking to Citi News on Tuesday, Honourable Konadu said she wonders why some people are riled up by Mr Cameron’s message. She added that homosexuals are human beings who must enjoy their rights and not to be condemned. According to the MP for Asante Akim South, the comment made by the UK premier calls for a sober analysis for the appropriate conclusions to be drawn and not for Ghanaians to condemn him in a scathing and vitriolic manner. “I don’t understand why people are talking about just one set of people. .. in any case these are human beings and they must enjo...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Accra Press Release on the British Prime Minister's 'Homosexuality Threat' To Ghana Accra, 03 November, 2011: The Coalition against Homophobia in Ghana (CAHG), the Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana (GALAG) and other LGBT Networks in Ghana are surprised and in total shock at the increased interest by the UK government to withdraw aid to some African countries who are homophobic. Though the Coalition have no problem with calling on government to abide by the British code of conduct for financial support, we believe LGBT people do not live in isolation in Africa. We have families and friends who need these aids to survive on daily basis. Cutting aid to some selected Africa countries due to homophobic laws therefore will not help the LGBT people in these countries, but will rather stigmatize these groups and individuals. LGBT people will be used as scape goats for government inability to support its citizens and some sectors of the economy. The challe...