A Kenyan court on
Thursday threw out a bid to outlaw anal examinations on people suspected
to be gay, a practice that has been criticised by rights activists.
The case was brought by two men who challenged police use of rectal
inspections after undergoing the procedure when being investigated for
homosexuality, which is illegal in Kenya.
Being gay can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years in the country,
although prosecutions are rare.
“There was no other way evidence could have been obtained to ascertain
that they are gay without carrying out anal analysis,” Judge Anyara
Emukule said in a ruling at the High Court in the port city of Mombasa.
The men are expected to appeal the decision.
Eric Gitari, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission in Kenya, called the tests “humiliating”.
The ban on homosexuality “has flooded Kenyan society with waters of
prejudice, hatred and shame”, he wrote in Newsweek ahead of the ruling.
Homophobia is on the rise in Africa, and taking an anti-gay position
while espousing evangelical Christian values is a major vote winner in
many countries on the continent.
Gay rights activists have warned of rising intolerance in Kenya,
including attacks on homosexuals and alleged cases of lesbians being
raped to “cure” them.
Human Rights Watch wrote in a recent report that discrimination against
homosexuals in Kenya “remains a major problem”, and that the
authorities’ “response to mob attacks and other forms of anti-gay
violence has been limited.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/court-rules-anal-tests-gay-suspects-legal/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/court-rules-anal-tests-gay-suspects-legal/
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