The LGBTI community in Tanzania is under threat from a hit squad created by a government official to hunt them down and jail them for 30 years.
Please help support LGBTI Tanzanians by signing this petition, which demands:
- End the anti-LGBTI purge
- Disband the anti-LGBTI hit squad
- Repeal the imposed colonial-era anti-gay laws
- Protect LGBTIs against discrimination & hate crime
A senior Tanzanian government official has called on the general public to report any suspected LGBTI person to the authorities and has pledged to have them all jailed for 30 years. He has also threatened to arrest all those suspected of spreading LGBTI messages on social media.
According to Tanzania's colonial-era anti-gay laws, the maximum sentence for homosexuality is life imprisonment, with the minimum jail term being 30 years. Government leaders have also declared LGBTI people ungodly, unnatural and mentally ill. They've used these arguments to justify the widespread persecution of LGBTI people and the closure of 40 HIV/AIDS clinics in the country for allegedly promoting homosexuality.
However, the Tanzanian gay purge campaign violates Article 12 of the constitution which states that All human beings are born free, and are all equal plus every person is entitled to recognition and respect for his dignity. Article 13 goes further to state that All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to protection and equality before the law. Additionally, Article 16 states that Every person is entitled to respect and protection of his person, the privacy of his own person, his family and of his matrimonial life, and respect and protection of his residence and private communication.
The anti-LGBTI discrimination in Tanzania is against the African values of Ubuntu and the teachings of many religions which calls on us to love for one another.
Furthermore, the anti-LGBTI witch-hunt violates Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights, as well as other international conventions to which Tanzania is a signatory.
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We will deliver this petition to the Tanzanian High Commission in London.
