Tanzanian authorities “attack rights of LGBT people”

A recently published report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), a campaign group, has accused Tanzanian authorities of denying basic health services to members of the LGBT community.

The report details allegations of arbitrary arrests and forced anal examinations on gay and lesbian people, in what HRW characterises as “a systematic attack on the rights of LGBT people”.

Neela Ghoshal, a senior researcher at HRW, said “Manufactured threats around so-called ‘promotion of homosexuality’ have displaced best practices and evidence-based approaches in guiding HIV policy in Tanzania”.

This is not the first time Tanzania’s government has been accused of homophobia.

Four years ago the health ministry banned charities and NGOs from distributing free lubricants and condoms to gay people in an effort to combat the spread of HIV/Aids.

Critics say this latest move will put more lives at risk from the spread of the deadly Aids virus.

But authorities have hit back, saying the health service does not discriminate against anybody, and there is no need for special services targeting the gay community.

Homosexuality is illegal in Tanzania, and those accused of “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” can be punished with up to 30 years in prison, leading most to hid their sexuality. 

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