Abstention from HRC59 vote exposes NDC gov’t’s double standards on LGBTQ — Minority

The Minority Caucus on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament has accused the NDC government of displaying double standards on LGBTQ issues following Ghana’s abstention from a vote at the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC59).

Ghana, on July 7, abstained from a vote to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (IE SOGI).

The vote was held at the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of efforts to extend the expert’s work for another three years.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press statement dated July 9, explained that the abstention was consistent with Chapter 5, Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on various grounds.

However, the Minority in a statement dated July 10, said the explanation was “false” and a deliberate attempt to rationalise the government’s failure to uphold Ghanaian family values.

“The Government’s failure to lay the Anti-Gay Bill in Parliament for it to be passed into law, and its consistent abstinence from votes relating to LGBTQ, is a clear manifestation of its double standards on LGBTQ issues and the promotion of Ghanaian family values,” the Caucus said in part of the statement.

It added, “Ghana’s decision to abstain from this vote is, thus, a sign of Government’s indifference to proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values which they promised to uphold.”

The Minority further noted that Ghana’s abstention means the government missed an opportunity to project the country’s cultural and moral position internationally.

It accused the NDC administration of betraying promises made while in opposition to defend Ghanaian family values and promote the Anti-Gay Bill.