A top Namibian court on Friday struck down the African country’s colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex relationships, in a verdict hailed as “historic” by rights groups. The high court in the capital, Windhoek, declared the crimes of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” as “unconstitutional and invalid” in its ruling on the case brought by a local LGBTQ activist. “We are not persuaded that in a democratic society such as ours.
.. it is reasonably justifiable to make an activity criminal just because a segment, maybe a majority, of the citizenry consider it to be unacceptable,” the judges wrote.
The judgement overturns rarely enforced laws dating back to 1927, which Namibia inherited from the colonial era but maintained after gaining independence from South Africa in 1990. “Because of this decision, I no longer feel like a criminal on the run in my own country simply because of who I am,” Friedel Dausab, the activist who brought the case, said in a statement. “It is a beautiful day for our democracy, our country and our constitution,” he added to AFP.
London-based Human Dignity Trust, a non-profit organisation that supported the legal case, called the ruling “historic”, saying it struck down laws that enabled stigma and discrimination. ALSO READ: Gay Mexican-British man sentenced to prison in Qatar “LGBT Namibians can now look to a brighter future,” said its chief executive, Tea Braun. Photos shared online by local rights group Equal.
