Malawi pardons jailed gay couple
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Aid donors had put pressure on the government to free the pair
A gay couple jailed in Malawi after getting engaged have been pardoned by President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Mr Mutharika, speaking as UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited his country, said he had ordered their immediate release.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were given 14-year jail terms earlier this month after being convicted of gross indecency and unnatural acts.
The case has sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.
Mr Ban hailed the president's decision as "courageous".
"This outdated penal code should be reformed wherever it may exist," he said.
The BBC's Karen Allen, in Lilongwe, says Mr Ban is trying to put pressure on parliamentarians to reform anti-homosexuality laws that date back to colonial times.
'Culture of hate'
Correspondents say Malawi is a deeply conservative society where religious leaders equate same-sex liaisons with Satanism.
Mr Mutharika, who has in the past dismissed homosexuality as alien, said he had set them free on humanitarian grounds.
"In all aspects of reasoning, in all aspects of human understanding, these two gay boys were wrong - totally wrong," he said after meeting Mr Ban.
"However, now that they have been sentenced, I as the president of this country have the powers to pronounce on them and therefore, I have decided that with effect from today, they are pardoned and they will be released."
Monjeza, 26, and Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement. They have been in custody ever since.
Their lawyers say the two men are likely to be freed by Monday.
Our correspondent says there are plenty of people who were not sorry to see the men go to jail, many of whom will be slightly puzzled at the president's announcement.
Gift Trapence, from the campaign group Centre for the Development of People, welcomed the decision.
"We're very happy and we praise the president for his maturity, but there is still a long way to go to end the culture of hate," he said.
External pressureAid donors and human rights groups have been putting pressure on his government to respect the rights of minority groups.
The UK government, Malawi's biggest donor, said it was dismayed by the sentencing, and the US labeled it a step backwards for human rights.
On Saturday, British popstar and Aids campaigner Sir Elton John wrote an open letter to Mr Mutharika in the UK's Guardian newspaper pleading for the release of the pair.
"Their trial and harsh sentencing will have a perilous effect on our continuing efforts to combat Aids in Malawi and potentially reverse the gains we have achieved," he said.
The two men were convicted under a law dating back to colonial rule by Britain.
Many of Britain's former colonies have similar laws outlawing homosexuality; India overturned its anti-homosexuality law last year.
In Uganda, MPs are debating whether to strengthen the laws to include the death penalty for some gay people - a move which has infuriated Western governments and rights campaigners.
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So the Malawian President is still a homophobe because he still thinks homosexuality is wrong, but he's not an evil one or something like that.
If it weren't for the massive negative international press, he would have been completely happy with the situation.
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So the Malawian President is still a homophobe because he still thinks homosexuality is wrong, but he's not an evil one or something like that.
If it weren't for the massive negative international press, he would have been completely happy with the situation.
The situation is more complex than this. I used to work for a non-governmental organisation that had operations in Malawi, and I've spent a lot of time there. The founding president of modern independent Malawi, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was a very repressive leader (for some 30 years) of a single-part state that censored books, newspapers, films, and even had a national dress code–if the police thought your hair was too long, they would cut it themselves. People linked this conservatism with independence from colonial rule and, in some ways, became comfortable with it as the price one pays for self-determination.
Bingu's agenda has been primarily one of eliminating corruption and stabilising the food supply for his country. GLBT issues aren't on his radar scope, nor those of most Malawi politicians or social leaders The Malawi people (who are among the kindest, warmest, and most hospitable in the world), for the most part, wouldn't know the terms "gay" or "lesbian" even if they're fluent in English. They are simply not aware of the phenomenon. There is, though, a small, but growing, pro-equality movement.
Given all this, I commend Bingu for essentially threading a needle: If he became a public supporter of GLBT rights, that would be so anathema to the people that his government could collapse, and its replacement could be a return to the Banda era. But by acting as he did, he gently opens the door to a little bit more acceptance and tolerance. GLBT rights there will come by evolution, not revolution.
Yes, it took international press and attention to stimulate the president's actions, but I don't think it's accurate to say that without this attention he would have been "happy with the situation." Instead, I think he would have been completely unaware of it.
There's certainly a long, long way to go before LGBT people have equal rights in Malawi (or lots of other countries). But I think branding Bingu as a homophobe is too simplistic. He is president of deeply conservative country that faces significant problems--such as preventing its population from dying of hunger, malaria, and AIDS. I can understand that he and his government would not pay much attention to LGBT rights. I am confident, though, that eventually the good people of Malawi will join the growing international equality movement. It won't be this year, or next, but it will happen.
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eobox91103 <–-->
Most informative
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How can anyone be President of a country and not know that there are laws against an entire segment of the country's population?
Are Malawians that closed off from the rest of the world that they have no idea what being gays is?
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How can anyone be President of a country and not know that there are laws against an entire segment of the country's population?
Are Malawians that closed off from the rest of the world that they have no idea what being gays is?
President Bingu is aware of the laws, but like most people in Malawi, he's not aware that there is an LGBT segment of his population. The few senior officials/lawmakers with whom I spoke on this topic said, "it's not an issue here–perhaps in prisons or in military barracks--but not in the general population." That is, of course, incorrect, confusing behaviour with orientation. Change will only come when sexual minorities become more visible, and the courageous gay couple announcing their engagement is part of that movement. It is not unlike the way things were in Europe or the Americas 100 years ago.
Please don't misunderstand me--I want to see full equality for LGBT people in Malawi (and everywhere else), but it's unfortunately going to be a while before that happens.
As for the Malawi people being cut off from the rest of the world, I would suggest that it might be the other way 'round: The rest of the world is cut off from Malawi. It would be interesting to query people in major cities in the Americas and Europe, showing them an otherwise blank outline map of Africa, and ask them "which of these countries is Malawi?" I think less than 1% could answer correctly.
As an aside, I really appreciate the respectful, illuminating online forum discussions that we have at gt.ru. They are, in general, so much more civilised than what one finds on most blogs or other electronic graffiti walls.
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As for the Malawi people being cut off from the rest of the world, I would suggest that it might be the other way 'round: The rest of the world is cut off from Malawi. It would be interesting to query people in major cities in the Americas and Europe, showing them an otherwise blank outline map of Africa, and ask them "which of these countries is Malawi?" I think less than 1% could answer correctly.
I had to :google: and the reason I posted the simple map above.
BTW: I do hope officials from UK Embassy are there to see them released from prison and offer Political Asylum to this courageous couple should this be something they desire. I suspect they will stay and fight the good fight for LBGT awareness in Malawi.
Regardless of what they want I wish them Health and Happiness for all their years.
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It doesn't matter if no one outside of Africa can show where Malawi is on the map, as that doesn't affect people's lives, as they will still get their aid money.
However, having hateful laws against an entire segment of your population does affect lives.
People will not come forward to proclaim they are gay in a country with such harsh and homophobic laws as we see in Malawi and the rest of Africa. Maybe aid to Africa {and Jamaica} should be conditional on them getting rid of their hate filled laws.
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