June 21, (THEWILL) – A Namibian High Court has struck out a law criminalising same-sex relationships.
The court in Windhoek declared on Friday the crimes of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” as “unconstitutional and invalid”.
“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,” it added.
The LGBTQ rights groups and London-based Human Dignity Trust welcomed the ruling, describing it as “historic”.
The ruling annuls seldom applied statutes from 1927 that Namibia inherited from the colonial period but chose to uphold 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,” said Friedel Dausab, the activist who filed the case.
The United Nations AIDS programme, UNAIDS, said the ruling marked a “significant victory for equality and human rights”.
“This decision is a powerful step towards a more inclusive Namibia,” said Anne Githuku-Shongwe, UNAIDS Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
“LGBT Namibians can now look to a brighter future,” said Chief Executive, Tea Braun while reacting to the judgement.
The verdict comes against a backdrop of growing intolerance towards LGBTQ rights in southern Africa.
While a handful of African countries have legalised same-sex relationships, South Africa remains the sole African nation that has allowed gay marriage since 2006.
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