IN Toronto magazine

GLOBAL ACTIVISM:

The fascinating case study of Malawi more than a year after international pressure helped free a queer couple from prison

“Where are you from?” asks the security guard at a downtown Blantyre hotel while I wait for a taxi.

“Canada,” I say.

“Canada,” he repeats. “I hear in your country men can marry men.”

“Yes, that’s true,” I say, anticipating a tense conversation.

“That is not Malawian culture,” he says. “You people come here and try to impose your culture on us.”

Malawi is a conservative country in southern Africa where locals like to describe themselves as “God-fearing” and where human rights groups struggle to defend LGBT people.

Malawi made international headlines in 2010 when a queer couple was sentenced to 14 years hard labour after holding a wedding party. Tiwonge  Chimbalanga  and Steven Monjeza were convicted under anti-gay statutes, though Chimbalanga identifies as a trans woman. Human rights groups, including the local Centre for the Development of People, got involved, attracting international attention. The president gave the couple a pardon in order to forestall the threat by certain countries to withhold international aid.

This past year, governments in the UK, Canada and, most recently, the US, have stepped up their calls for countries like Malawi who receive international aid to do more to protect their LGBT citizens. The result in Malawi has been a palpable tension on the streets of Blantyre, Malawi’s financial centre and second-largest city.

“The situation is a bit… tough. It’s very tough,” says Thandekn, a 23-year-old gay man. He and two other gay men, Amanda and Barbara, are sitting in the offices of the Centre for the Development of People in Blantyre, one of the few places they feel safe in this country. All three are using pseudonyms (the latter two choose to use female names).

“We are living in a country as if it is not our country,” says Amanda, 28. “Here we are family, that is why we are able to talk with you, but we can’t do it if we go out there.”

The three men agree that tensions have risen since the Chimbalanga/Monjeza case. “It was easier [before],” says Thandekn. “Things are tough right now.”

“Some time back, you could dance, you could maybe kiss,” but not now, says Amanda. The men all have girlfriends or wives to cover the fact that they are gay.

Harold Williams was a human rights activist with the Association for Secular Humanism. Originally from England, he lived in Malawi for decades and is associated with Malawi’s fight for democracy. I spoke with him before he passed away this past summer. He said that things would be easier for gay people right now if the international community didn’t get involved.

“The coming in of outside people actually has made the case more difficult because now it is a question of sovereignty,” said Williams.

The UK has suspended aid to Malawi and the US and Norway have either withdrawn aid or warned the government to improve its human rights record or risk the suspension of aid. Malawi’s government heavily relies on aid. This is hitting them where it hurts.

“I think [Western countries] have got a point,” said Williams, “but I think they shouldn’t belabour it. It has been counterproductive, in my estimation.”

Malawian activist Dunker Kamba disagrees. “Human rights have no borders,” says Kamba. He and Gift Trapence are the men behind the Centre for the Development of Humans; they are on the frontlines of the struggle, defending Chimbalanga and Monjeza and alerting the international community to their case. Kamba was in the courtroom many days, as well as the prison, making sure the couple had enough food and clothing.

In the wake of threats, Trapence and Kamba were forced to leave their home cities (Lilongwe and Blantyre, respectively); they have both since moved back. They say things have gotten worse for gay people in the short term but don’t regret making the case an international event.

“The international media actually helped a lot in this case,” says Kamba. “It is not that international people blow it out of proportion,” says Trapence, “but it is because it was an issue that hinges on human rights.”

“The case opened up a forum,” says Kamba. “Now people started debating and talking about the issues.” Adds Amanda, “It has helped for people to know we exist in this country.”

How  can  we  best  Effect  change  internationally?

Human rights for LGBT people around the world have moved to the forefront of many government and activist agendas. At the Commonwealth conference in October 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to slash aid to any country with anti-gay records. Canada joined the UK in a failed effort to persuade member states — which include some of the worst offenders — to rescind anti-gay laws. In December, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum instructing US agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons” around the world, followed by a landmark speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the UN in Switzerland. How all this pressure affects LGBT folk suffering under anti-gay regimes around the world remains unclear.

Kim Vance, co-director of ARC International, a Canadian-based international rights organization, stresses that local voices need to be heard in any anti-homophobia campaign. Too often, she says, “Western voices drown out local voices.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Jamaican lawyer Maurice Tomlinson, human rights activist and legal advisor to AIDS-Free World. Jamaica was a flashpoint in international LGBT rights two years ago after the Canadian lobby group Egale and other Western rights organizations called for a boycott of Jamaica to pressure the government there to do more to protect its LGBT citizens. Tomlinson feels broad financial penalties backfire, especially in poor countries like Jamaica. “There was one incident that was reported to [Jamaican LGBT advocacy group] J-FLAG of actual violence linked to the Egale [boycott] call,” writes Tomlinson in an email. “The perpetrators said that, ‘It’s you the Canadians fighting for,’ and proceeded to attack the person with a knife.” Tomlinson feels there were likely other incidents but notes that underreporting attacks is common in Jamaica.

It’s the same in Malawi. Vance says that it “actually got harsher” for LGBT people and that the outcome of the Chimbalanga/Monjeza case was far from ideal. A presidential pardon does not set a precedent; it is merely a band-aid solution.

Local activists and rights groups are already under huge strains and are ill equipped to cope with any backlash. Where are the Western groups, asks Tomlinson, “to meet the needs of persons who would have suffered as a result of a violent backlash?” He’s talking practical and immediate assistance, like money for individuals forced from their homes and help for anyone seeking asylum.

Across the African continent, many politicians are exploiting homophobia. Ghanaian homosexuals are being beaten up in the streets as government authorities openly say they want to “get rid of these people.” In Uganda, a prominent gay rights activist was beaten to death after a tabloid published his photo with the text, “Hang them.”

Harold Williams, the Malawian-based human rights activist who died last year, felt the Malawian president is now using gay rights as a wedge issue, diverting attention from the government’s many controversial and unpopular policies such as reforms to the justice department and challenging freedom of the press. In addition the country is continually facing a shortage of fuel. The gay controversy, said Williams, “has now given the government a stick to beat these people with. They are able to dodge other issues by bringing this emotive issue in.”

So what are we in the West to do? We want to help but can cause harm so easily.

Moral suasion is the first step. “International pressure to support advocacy on the ground should firstly come from supra-national groups like the UN,” states Tomlinson. Jamaica for example has signed various rights conventions and should be held accountable.

Financial penalties do work, he adds, if applied with greater care. Make homophobic perpetrators pay; don’t alienate the general population. Cultivating local allies is critical.

“Financial pressure can be applied to specific public figures — politicians, performers and others — without alienating our allies. This can be done through revoking visas or refusing entry and freezing assets held in the host country by individuals who spout homophobia,” states Tomlinson.

He asks that Westerners look closer to home, at businesses, charities and church groups that promote homophobia overseas. “Businesses, both multinational and national, which support homophobia should be targeted for specific action,” writes Tomlinson. “For example, in April 2011 Coca-Cola sponsored a concert in Montego Bay which featured notoriously homophobic Jamaican dancehall artist Sizzla. This concert was taped and is now freely available on YouTube. Predictably, Sizzla used the global platform provided by Coca-Cola to call for the execution of gays. Despite repeated requests for Coca-Cola to publicly repudiate the Sizzla performance, the company only published one letter to the editor in a local daily.”

Vance and Tomlinson stress the importance of working for change in concert with local organizations and people. For Canadians who want to help, Vance suggests giving support to organizations that keep accurate data and have proven track records and credibility, groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Where possible, seek out local activists. J-FLAG, for example, has chapters in Kingston and Montego Bay. “Volunteers are always happy to meet with visitors,” writes Tomlinson. “They appreciate the moral support.” And money and supplies are always welcome. Both J-FLAG and the Malawi-based Centre for the Development of Humans can be reached through their websites.

As for Western governments’ newfound tough talk linking aid to human rights, again, Tomlinson cautions against overly simplistic approaches.

“Redirecting budgetary support from homophobic governments to local agencies working to document, educate about and respond to human rights abuses against LGBT people,” he states, “is far superior to overbroad — but much simpler to administer — slashing of aid.”

Gordon Bowness & Denis Calnan