By Melanie Nathan. Dec 17, 2024
If fully enacted, this will be an actual problem for Americans especially in a Trump Era, as my personal example will show.
On February 28, 2024 the Ghanaian Parliament passed a new anti-LGBTQ+ law which has not been signed into law yet by President Nana Akufo-Addo, having stalled his assent pending the two constitutional challenges currently before the Ghanaian Supreme Court, set for a ruling tomorrow.
President Elect John Mahama, has promised to sign the new legislation, titled The Proper Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill of 2024, into law should the law or any part of it, be upheld.
This highly controversial law is fraught with controversy, and if fully enacted will create enormous problems for all Ghanaians, not just the LGBTQAP+ people which the Bill targets. The country will suffer an irreparable ding to its once admired democracy, huge economic and AID impacts, as well as the obliteration of very basic freedoms. The global impact such as tourism and diplomacy will change the landscape of the country in a way it has not seen before. Yet. its proponents hve pushed on citing their sovereignty and the mythological belief that the west is importing homosexuality to Africa and that any non binary form of sexual orientation or gender identity is Un-African. The new law is underpinned in its genesis and development by Colonial era anti homosexuality penal codes and direct American Evangelical anti gay hate preaching.
The most onerous clause in the ACT, is the one that says you can go to jail if you merely identify as LGBTQAP+, which includes allies, the latter holding hand with another section, barely spoken of, yet extremely onerous, Section 20, the Extradition Clause. This Section seeks to amend Ghana’s Extradition Act of 1960 (Act 22).
The Amendment would classify LGBTQ+ people, allies and related acts as “fugitive criminals.” In the same vein as murderers, rapists, bank robbers and more. This means anyone engaged in LGBTQAP+ activities who are merely deemed to have committed offenses would be subject to extradition to Ghana. Under such extradition law, Ghana could potentially request the extradition of individuals from countries with which it has extradition treaties. The treaty with the US, for example, was extended from its initiating UK treaty which covered Commonwealth countries.
I can see a Biden or Democratic Government using human rights grounds, or any means available to refuse such extradition, even going to great lengths, opting out of its treaty or creating exceptions for Ghana. We all know Biden has mere weeks left in office. Unfortunately given his record and those he is attempting to appoint to cabinet positions, I can see a Trump MAGA government cooperating with Ghana, granting extradition on a case-by-case basis, and making those who fled Ghana seeking asylum in the USA insidiously vulnerable.
All said and done this Section and its impact, if allowed to stand will be a nightmare for Ghana’s LGBT community, its allies and even foreigners, creating a Diplomatic horror for the US and Ghana, as well as for the many other countries which have bilateral agreements with Ghana.
This new law will also impact foreign nationals, including LGBTQ+ individuals, advocates and allies supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Ghana. All could face legal actions under the Act. Actions such as identifying as LGBTQ+ posting pro-LGBTQI content on social media, engaging with LGBTQ+ organizations or activists in Ghana and could trigger potential extradition requests from Ghana to countries like the USA, UK, New Zealand, Australia, India, and Canada.
To place this in a wider perspective and as a ‘close to home’ example, that places someone like me, Melanie Nathan, Executive Director of African Human Rights Coalition at risk. I have openly opposed the Ghana law and openly supported the Ghanaian LGBTQI+ community, going on the record by sending an opposition report to the Parliamentary committee in Ghana before the new law was enacted, on behalf of Ghana’s LGBTQI asylum seekers. I also appear as a country conditions expert witness in the US and global courts on behalf of asylum seekers from Ghana who are LGBTQI, perceived as such, allies, advocates, and human rights defenders. Hence I am a criminal under the new law, subject to jail terms.
My risk is exacerbated as I have been a vocal anti-Trump activist, since 2015, in my individual capacity (not in my capacity as ED of AHRC). This could place me at risk for extradition by my own government which has promised retribution against anyone not loyal to, or criticizing Trump. In 2018, I appeared on the Joy Reid MSNBC show with my lawyer Lisa Bloom. I had tweeted “LIAR LIAR LIAR” and other tweets calling Trump out on his lies, causing him to block me on Twitter and leading to the cancellation of my Pride Month speaking tour of NAVAIR bases in California.
Whereas I would trust a Democratic Biden or Harris administration to protect my human rights as an American citizen if an attempt was made to extradite me to Ghana, I would not trust Trump or any MAGA government to protect me or my rights as a LGBTQI leader and human rights defender.
Let THAT sink in!
Let us hope the Ghanian Court rules against the entire ACT and that it sees the clauses such as Section 20 are a disaster for Ghana.
By Melanie Nathan
Commissionermnathan@gmail.com
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