Posts Tagged As: Steven Monjeza
June 14th, 2010
Once we learned that Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were pardoned by Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika following their sentencing for fourteen years at hard labor for breaking that country’s anti-sodomy laws, I think we all understood that this would mark the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. In our naïveté, I think many of us assumed that this new chapter would somehow be a more peaceful one. But that was not to be. They’ve split now. Steven announced that he’s taking a wife — a womanly wife. And now it appears that Steven’s betrothed may be the village prostitute. The Malawi press, naturally, are having a field day with all of this.
Meanwhile, Tiwonge appears to be taking this all in stride:
But reacting to the news, Aunt Tiwo said he was not informed by Monjeza about the split.
“I have just learnt the new from newspaper. I am sad that he has communicated to the press without talking to me,” said Chimbalanga from Lilongwe.
“I respect his decision to marry a woman. He has a right to make that decision but I am also free to marry,” he said.
“I will be married for sure,” said Aunt Tiwo.
The entire world seemed to have placed a lot of hopes in this couple — that they would stay together, settle down, perhaps leave Malawi to seek asylum elsewhere, and just generally live happily ever after. Just like in all of our most beloved movies and fairy tales. But if one were to turn to fictional romance for inspiration, Romeo and Juliet might be a more instructive example: two lovers whose relationship is condemned by all of society, doomed to spend a few rare and furtive moments together before taking their lives. Steven and Tiwonge haven’t ended their lives fortunately, but they have apparently killed off their relationship.
Romeo and Juliet have become fictional heroes for star-crossed lovers everywhere. Steven and Tiwonge probably aren’t destined to be regarded as heroes by a lot of people, and that is unfortunate. National cemeteries are filled with the dead of war, and we decorate the headstones with flags and flowers in memory of their sacrifices. But those wars, too, have produced what we might call the walking wounded: those who struggle with physical wounds and emotional scars. Some of them, most visibly, we see homeless on the streets. “Why can’t they just shower, shave and get a job?” we ask ourselves, completely failing to understand the world from their point of view.
And so many of us make the same mistake with Steven and Tiwonge. “Why don’t they just leave and seek asylum elsewhere?” some ask. That’s much easier said than done. The U.S and Great Britain both have a terrible record of turning away LGBT asylum seekers. Too often, judges and magistrates rule that if they would only stay hidden and behave themselves, they would have no fear of imprisonment or the gallows. Asylum is not an easy option, particularly with the rising anti-immigrant nationalism that has been raising its head in both countries.
Besides, let’s say Steven and Tiwonge are awarded asylum — then what? They’re separated from friends and family, and the only culture they have ever known. They are poorly educated and unable to speak English beyond a few simple phrases. While it’s easy to suspect that Tiwonge may thrive in such a challenging situation — she seems to be the one who has overcome the most hurdles in all of this with her self-assurance intact — it’s no guarantee that either of them would be able to make it, let alone make it together.
In trying to please two very different worlds — the deeply homophobic world that is Malawi society, and the world of the gay community which sees each struggle through the lens of human rights advocacy and heroic struggle — Steven and Tiwonge has satisfied neither very well. It turns out that they just weren’t cut out to be heroes. They were just two crazy lovebirds caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. A lot like a lot of other walking wounded among us.
In fact, heroes rarely triumph personally. For every Rosa Parks, there were countless others lynched, jailed, or otherwise broken. For every war hero, there are homeless veterans. And yet, didn’t they also sacrifice something very dear to them and their families for our freedom?
I suspect that Tiwonge may somehow make us proud, but it looks like Steven will probably disappoint us. He has a drinking problem (can anyone blame him?), he says he was never gay, he’s now marrying a woman, she appears to be a prostitute — did he or someone else pay her to marry him? I don’t know, but one thing I can predict is that whatever twists and turns his life takes from now on, each development will be gleefully detailed in the national press where even the most respectable outlets have failed to hide their contempt and derision.
All of this is a reminder that it’s not always great heroic characters who are called upon to make sacrifices for a besieged community. Sometimes it’s just ordinary people who have neither the constitution nor the wherewithal to be heroes in the classical sense. And yet, they sacrifice anyway, in ways that they may not completely understand or intend. And in that vein, Steven’s and Tiwonge’s sacrifices continue.
June 8th, 2010
Sometimes a guy just can’t get a break. We reported this morning that Steven Monjeza, one of two Malawians whose arrest, conviction, and subsequent pardon for allegedly breaking that country’s sodomy laws, has succumbed to the unimaginably intense pressure from the country’s deeply homophobic society by distancing himself from Tiwonge Chimbalanga and vowing to marry a twenty-four year old woman.
And in a further bid to try to shield himself Malawi’s malevolently homophobic society and avoid re-arrest, he propagated a common myth about homosexuality being a foreign plot, saying that this plot in his case goes all the way back to his arrest:
Monjeza, 26, confessed to a daily published on Tuesday that he was being forced “by other people” to go along with the gay story.
“Although, I claimed that I still love Tiwonge, I did not mean it,” he was quoted in the Nation newspaper as saying: “I have never had sex with him.”
According to the daily, Monjeza claimed that he was tricked to travel to the capital, Lilongwe, to profess his continued love to Tiwonge by unknown people who found him at home drunk and treated him to “a drinking orgy” along the
It’s that last statement, that he never loved nor had sex with Tiwonge — a statement that he made to try to avoid being re-arrested for homosexuality — that has, believe it or not, backfired, with at least one judiciary spokesman now calling for his arrest for perjury:
However, judiciary spokesman James Chigona told PANA Tuesday lying in court constitutes perjury.
“I don’t want to comment on whether Mr. Monjeza perjured himself or not because as a court spokesman, if I say so, I would be passing judgment on him,” he said.
“But if there are witnesses that can testify that he lied under oath in court, it can constitute an offence of perjury.”
Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga agreed with Chigona but was cautious not to refer to the Monjeza case.
…However, a justice ministry source said the ministry was liaising with the police to see how to react to Monjeza’s confession.
There’s just no appeasing some people.
June 8th, 2010
Update: I’ve found the original article from The Nation, and have revised this report accordingly.
It looks like anti-gay forces in Malawi may have gotten their way after all, if these reports are to be believed:
In a dramatic twist to the tale of Malawi’s convicted but pardoned gay lovebirds, the man, Steven Monjeza, has dumped his homosexual ‘wife’ Tiwonge Chimbalanga to marry a Blantyre-based woman. Twenty-four-year old Dorothy Gulo on Monday confessed her love for Monjeza whom she described as “a real man capable of doing to women what other men ably do in bed.” She was explicit about the issue and said she had nothing to hide.
Malawi’s government was under tremendous international criticism over the pair’s conviction of “gross indecency” following their December engagement ceremony, including pressure from donor nations which make up 40% of the nation’s gross domestic income. Undoubtedly, the couple themselves have also been subjected to unbearable pressure in turn from the virulently anti-gay government. When Steven and Tiwonge were pardoned of their sentence of fourteen years at hard labor, senior government officials warned that they would be re-arrested if they remained together. President Bingu wa Mutharika used particularly venomous language in denouncing the two following his return on June 2 from a two-day Franco-African summit:
Said Mutharika: “Chimbalanga and Monjeza were being used. I was not about to let this country be led astray or suffer because of two misguided and confused men. That is why I forgave them. To err is human, to forgive is divine.
“It, nonetheless, does not mean I condone their actions. Their actions were disgusting, demeaning and a disregard of our culture, religion and laws. Ndawatchera tsopano madona kuti ndione kuti anenano chani [I am now waiting to hear what else donors will demand from me].”
The President could not hide his disgust for Chimbalanga, dubbed Aunt Tiwo, when he described his movement, body language and exaggerated facial expressions as “stupid, demonic and useless”.
Monjeza acknowledged the pressure to The Nation:
Said Monjeza: “We were pardoned but I know the law can bounce back on us if we are not careful. Although I claimed that I still love Tiwo, I did not mean it. I have never had sex with him as was revealed in court. That is why the medical examination failed to establish any anal penetration. I was coerced into the whole thing.”
According to The Nation, Monjeza now claims that he was never gay, and that his recent press conference came about because he was kidnapped by three unidentified men and forced to attend a “drinking orgy.”
June 4th, 2010
We received another email via LGBT Asylum News saying that the TV interview with Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga was actually recorded last December following their arrest. If so, then that suggests that the interview by government-owned Malawi TV may have been under duress. The interview was removed from Malawi TV’s YouTube channel, but is still available at the Malawi Voice web site.
LGBT Asylum News’ synopsis mostly agrees with the one we received from an American expatriate living in Malawi, but adds a few more details:
I got a twitter messages requesting more information on a TV interview between Television Malawi and Tiwonge and Steven. Sorry I can not provide a full transcript. I am very busy, but I’ll give you a brief summary of the conversation. Here it is:
The reporter is trying to get the couple to denounce what they had done (the alleged wedding) and somewhat apologise to Malawian whom the reporter said the couple had offended. The reporter is using leading questions and authoritative language. Tiwonge, one wrapped in a piece of cloth, did very well in answers. He stood for his beliefs – telling the reporter that “he was within his right to chose his sexual orientation”. Steven got a bit more intimidated and didn’t express himself well.
You need to have in mind that this “interview” was taking place last December – just after the arrest. So the two were still in custody (this – in my opinion – means the interview should not have taken place because it could influence the ruling).
You also need to have in mind that most Malawians – including “leading reports” bought into what I consider stupid consipiracy theory that the couple had been payed by international LGBT campaigners to stage the “wedding” in order to see how Malawi authorities would react. I don’t know the origins of the theory but Malawi is very conservative and religious country so the theory could have its basis on the grounds that religious folks are trying to say Malawians cannot have same sex couples, which is ridiculous because they know it happens undergrounds.
It also think it is a fair assessment that the reporter was (is) ignorant about LGBT issues and he didn’t do his homework for the interview. In the end he felt safer to intimidate them – which was more than possible because the were in custody – rather than have a rational conversation, which the couple could have easily won.
It is also a possibility that the reporter acted on instructions from his bosses because otherwise the interview should not have been aired as it had the potential to pervert a course of justice.
June 4th, 2010
Yesterday, I posted a video from TV Malawi showing Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza speaking to a reporter. That video, which had been posted by the government-owned broadcaster has since been removed by Malawi TV. But not before an American expatriate living in Malawi emailed me to explain what was being said:
I speak Chichewa at an intermediate level, and while I had trouble picking up a lot of the dialogue in that video, I got the general gist. The whole thing looks like it was set up as a public humiliation for the two. They were made to recant their story and to apologize to all Malawians.
It starts with the presenter asking Tiwo why she, “as a man,” was taken as a wife to another man. The presenter asks why Tiwo chose to do such a thing. Tiwo says that AIDS is too rampant among Malawian women, so the presenter asks, to confirm, whether Tiwo has entered a same-sex relationship to escape AIDS, which Tiwo confirms.
Tiwo says Steven is the one who initiated the relationship (they met at church), and calls Steven her “da,” i.e. “darling.” The presenter clearly finds this amusing as he asks Steven to come over and stand next to his darling.
I’m having trouble following the next exchange, about the beginning of their relationship, but Steven does say that he had a wife prior to his engagement with Tiwo. The presenter asks if this was a “real” wife (mkazi weni-weni), to which Steven says yes. The presenter says “what about this one here?” and Steven says that his relationship with “this one” (Tiwo) must end. The presenter then asks Steven if his multiple relationships make him a polygamist; Steven says no, he’s ending his relationship with Tiwo.
Now, the presenter says, “What will happen with your real wife?” Steven says he’ll go to her and beg forgiveness.
Steven says he did the whole thing out of drunkenness, he was not of sound mind, and that he was tricked by “akunja” – foreigners – into marrying Tiwo, who he was told was a woman. He says that “today,” he will end the whole thing, and his message to all Malawians is that what he has done is a bad thing, an evil thing. He said he just followed what he was told to do. (the “foreigners made them do it” theory was widely circulated in the Malawi media).
The presenter asks Steven if he was after fame, or if he just wanted to mess around with the people of Malawi? He asks why Steven is ‘kukotakota’ (“flip-flopping,” in American parlance), one day saying he loves Tiwo, the next saying he did it out of drunkenness. Finally Steven “admits” that he just wanted to be famous, prompting the presenter to turn to the camera and say, “he admits it himself – he only did these things because he wanted to be famous.”
Now the presenter asks Tiwo what she thinks, and Tiwo says that they were just confused, and that it’s fine, no problem, they can end their relationship. He repeatedly asks Tiwo if she’s a man or a woman, prompting laughter from behind the camera. Tiwo says, “okay, I’m a man.” Under further questioning, Tiwo starts saying that she always identified as a girl since birth, but the presenter says, “look, a man can work in the kitchen, that’s called a ‘chef,’ that doesn’t make him a woman. Do you have the power to give birth?’ ” Tiwo says, no, she cannot give birth, and starts to try and explain further – but finally just says, “fine, I’m a man.”
The video is unfortunately cut off just as the presenter (I won’t say “reporter” – it’s widely known, anyhow, that TVM is nothing but a mouthpiece for government) asks Tiwo if she knows that she has done a wicked thing.
The reader requests anonymity, fearing swift deportation if his identity is revealed. He also suggests independent verification of his accounts, but with the video now removed, that won’t be possible.
Two things of note. First, it’s apparent that Steven and Tiwonge both are acutely aware of the dangers they still face for being re-arrested, particularly when Steven says that their relationship is “over” and Tiwonge acquiesces. Of course, saying anything else would subject them to new charges, trial and re-imprisonment. Perhaps this is intended to counter a possibly self-incriminating statement by Steven to the Malawi Voice shortly after their release. “Prison love cemented our love and whatever happened then remains the same now, ” Steven said. “I don’t regret falling in love with Chimbalanga. I love him and I will continue doing that.” As our Malawi reader suggests, this does appear to be set up to publicly humiliate the two and force them to recant.
The second thing to note is that if this reader got the conversation correctly, it appears extremely probable that Tiwonge is, in fact, transgender. In this exchange, the interviewer challenges her identity by pointing out that gender roles are immaterial, a point that she appears to reject but recognizes that any attempt to explain further will only result in further ridicule. As I discussed earlier, this element of her identification is key. When she says, “Okay, I’m a man,” or “Fine, I’m a man,” she’s clearly decided that this interview was going nowhere, so she just ends that part of it and hopes the subject will change.
It should be noted however that Tiwonge (and Steven) may not be aware of transgender as a concept, or if she is, it’s not something she’s all that concerned about right now. Steven still refers to Tiwonge using masculine pronouns. I doubt he would do that if she objected, but the fact is, staying out of prison and trying to figure out how to make a living are clearly far more important to them right now. Sorting out the proper etiquette of labels is undoubtedly far, far more important to us than it is to them. Steven and Tiwonge have far more pressing issues to worry about.
June 3rd, 2010
In the following video taken from TV Malawi and posted on YouTube, you will first see Tiwonge Chimbalanga talking to a reporter. After about a minute, Tiwonge is joined by Steven Monjeza. They are speaking in Chichewa, so if anyone can translate what’s being said that would be extremely helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mff0WNvBcfwSteven and Tiwonge appeared at a brief news conference in which they thanked President Bingu wa Mutharika for pardoning them last week after they were convicted and sentenced to fourteen years at hard labor for “gross indecency and unnatural acts” following a traditional engagement ceremony last December. The news conference took place yesterday in the administrative capital of Lilongwe. AFP reports:
A Malawian gay couple who received a presidential pardon on a 14-year sentence for sodomy on Thursday called President Bingu wa Mutharika a “caring father” and a “tolerant president.”
“The president has demonstrated that he is a caring father, a considerate and tolerant president. We wish him good health in his everyday endeavours as he continues leading the country to respecting human rights and to economic prosperity,” the couple said in a statement.
… The couple asked the media and the general public to respect their privacy. “So much has been said and written about us, both positive and negative. We think this is the time for us to be given an opportunity to enjoy our freedom,” they said. They called their ordeal “the most stressful period in our lives.”
Chimbalanga told AFP in a phone interview that he was in Lilongwe to “have a breather”, while his partner had returned to his village.
The Malawi Voice had earlier quoted Steven Monjeza as defiant, despite having been rejected by relatives following the couple’s release:
Prison love cemented our love and whatever happened then remains the same now. I don’t regret falling in love with Chimbalanga. I love him and I will continue doing that,” he said.
Also yesterday, President Mutharika called on reporters and everyone else to stop talking about the “satanic” gays. The story ends there,” he said. “I don’t want to hear anyone commenting on them. Nobody is authorized to comment on the gays. You will spoil things.”
Mutharika also acknowledged to the Malawi Voice that while there was tremendous pressure from foreign donor nations to release Steven and Tiwonge:
“Let me admit that there was pressure from the international community, who threatened to withdraw aid, so we have Zimbabwe to borrow a leaf from. Malawi needs their monies more than her morals to survive.
But despite that recognition, he painted his pardon as a humanitarian act:
“I’ve brought them back for the society to correct them and re-teach them our moral, if God, who we attach all these morals forgive, who are we to condemn them,” said Mutharika.
…”However on humanity, I believe these people have suffered enough emotional pain and the four walls of a jail will only inflict physical pain which is much laser than the emotional. So with the constitution powers vested in me as a president of the republic of Malawi, I therefore pardon them and order for their immediate release.” Said Mutharika.
June 2nd, 2010
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika, who pardoned Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza after they were sentenced to fourteen years at hard labor for gross indecency and unnatural acts,” has made it clear that he and everyone else should stop talking about those “satanic” gays:
“The story ends there… I don’t want to hear anyone commenting on them. Nobody is authorised to comment on the gays. You will spoil things,” Mutharika told reporters on arrival from the France-Africa summit.
He said the gay couple’s wedding was “satanic because they committed a crime against our culture, against our religion and against our laws.”
“I am looking at donors now… what will they say about the pardon?” Mutharika said.
…”Is it possible to stop aid to Malawi because of two people who are insane?” he asked.
Mutharika freed the couple following a meeting with UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon on Saturday. Malawi had endured months of intense international criticism of couple’s prosecution. Foreign donors make up over half of Malawi’s development budget.
But that just telling you what I hear. After all, I’m authorized to comment on the gays…
May 30th, 2010
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, whose 14-year jail terms for “gross indecency and unnatural acts” were overturned by a pardon from Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika, have been released from prison and were sent separately to their respective homes, the BBC reports. But a government minister warned that they could be re-arrested if they continued their relationship.
Patricia Kaliati, Malawi’s Minister of Gender and Children, said Monjeza and Chimbalanga’s release did not mean they could continue their relationship. “It doesn’t mean that now they are free people, they can keep doing whatever you keep doing,” she said.
Ms Kaliati said they could be rearrested if they “continue doing that”.
The couple’s lawyer, Mauya Msuks confirmed the threat:
“The pardon only applies to the offence under which they were convicted. If, for example, they go back and the state is of the view that they have recommited the offence, the pardon will not apply,” said Mauya Msuku.
President Mutharika pardoned the couple following a meeting with U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, who was in Malawi to speak before Parliament members in their brand new Chinese-built Parliament building. During his address to Parliament, Ban commended Mutharika’s actions as “courageous” and called on Parliament to rescind the country’s anti-homosexuality laws:
“It is unfortunate that laws that criminalize people on the basis of their sexual orientation exist in some countries. They should be reformed,” he underlined.
He expressed the hope that Parliament “will take appropriate steps to update laws discriminating based on sexual orientation in line with international standards.”
The couple’s release was hailed by international human rights advocates and by the goverments of the United States and Britain. But reaction inside Malawi was decidedly more mixed. A Nyasa Times editorial today said that in the end, Steven and Tiwonge still be judged harshly. Citing President Mutharika’s statement that “I have done this on humanitarian grounds but this does not mean that I support this,” the editors write:
We at the Nyasa Times are happy because his statement resonates very well with respected thinker Friedrich Nietzsche who once observed that “If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.” In essence what the president has said is that he has forgiven the gay couple but he will not forget their legal wrongs.
…With the moneyed people in this globe we live in, they have their way; and we have our way, but somehow somewhere money talks. Sadly, as for the right way, the correct way and the only way, it does not exist. Pressure or not under pressure, the President has done the right thing to pardon the gay couple.
After all, if Malawi is a God-fearing nation, then it subscribes to the teachings of the Bible which contends that the two will have to give their account to their Creator on why they behaved they way they have on the Day of Reckoning. It is not for us to Judge.
“It is not for us to judge” was, in a nutshell, Pontius Pilate’s lame excuse. And so it has been true ever since: whenever you hear someone say “it is not for us to judge,” you can count on their already having judged and condemned, and are now just trying to wash their hands of it.
May 29th, 2010
Following a visit from U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika announced the pardon of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. He has ordered the immediate release of the couple, according to Malawi-based Nyasa Times:
“I have decided that with effect from today, they are pardoned and they will be released,” President Mutharika told a battery of reporters after meeting UN boss.
…”These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws,” said the Malawi President. “However, as the head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions.”
He added: “I have done this on humanitarian grounds but this does not mean that I support this.”
According to the BBC, Mr. Ban hailed the move as “courageous.” “This outdated penal code should be reformed wherever it may exist,” he said.
The U.N. General Secretary is in Malawi to speak before Malawi’s Parliament as part of celebrations over the opening of the nation’s new Chinese-built Parliament Building in the recently-designated capital of Lilongwe. The BBC and the Guardian (UK) report that Mr. Ban is expected to call on Parliament to rescind its anti-sodomy laws.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who identifies as a woman, were given the maximum sentence of fourteen years at hard labor last week on charges of “gross indecency” and “unnatural acts,” following a traditional engagement ceremony the couple held last December.
It is unclear when Steven and Tiwonge will actually be released, and it is more uncertain as to where they would go. Their case has gained worldwide attention and their photos are well-known throughout Malawi.
Their release is marks an important development in gay rights on the African continent. Throughout 2009 and 2010, virulent anti-gay campaigns had broken out in several African countries, with Uganda threatening to hang gay people who were HIV-positive and jail everyone else who had anything to do with them. Ugandan leaders bragged that their proposal was a demonstration of “leadership to the world” against LGBT people, but international pressure has led to multiple news reports hinting that the bill may die a quiet death. If Malawi’s conviction and imprisoning of Steven and Tiwonge was left to stand, it was feared that other nations on the continent may be encourage to initiate or revive their own anti-gay campaigns.
May 20th, 2010
Declaring that he wanted to protect the public “from people like you,” Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa of Blantyre Magistrates Court sentenced Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, to 14 years in prison with hard labor, the maximum sentence under Malawi law, after having found them found guilty of gross indecency and unnatural acts:
“I sentence you to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour each. That’s the maximum under the penal code,” magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa told the two men in a courtroom in the capital Blantyre.
“I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example,” the judge added.
“Malawi is not ready to see its sons getting married to its sons.”
The BBC reports that Monjeza broke down in tears when he heard the sentence, while Chimbalanga remained calm.
As they were escorted away under heavy police guard, hundreds of onlookers outside the court shouted abuse at them,. One woman reportedly yelled, “Malawi should never allow homosexuality at any cost.”
The couple’s lawyer said that they would appeal the verdict to High Court.
Human rights groups call the ruling a significant blow:
Undule Mwakasungura, director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, said the sentence would drive gays into hiding. “Malawi needs to sit down and tackle the issue of gays,” he said. “We have many of them who need to publicly access information and HIV and AIDS medical care. It’s a big let-down.”
The U.S. State Department has condemned the conviction:
The United States is deeply disappointed in [the] conviction of same-sex couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza in Malawi,” said assistant secretary Phillip J. Crowley at a press briefing Wednesday. “We view the criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as a step backward in the protection of human rights in Malawi. The government of Malawi must respect the human rights of all of its citizens. The United States views the decriminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as integral to the protection of human rights in Malawi and elsewhere in the world.”
Britain has also denounced the move:
“We are deeply dismayed by the conviction for buggery and indecent practices of Mr. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Mr. Steven Monjeza,” said a joint statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). “We are also very concerned by the allegations of their mistreatment in police custody,” added FCO Minister Henry Bellingham, International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.
Three British MP’s have called for a Human Rights review in Malawi. In a press release, UK LGBT Advocate Peter Tatchell warns that a fourteen year sentence under Malawi’s harsh prison system could effectively mean the death penalty for Steven and Tiwonge:
“Fourteen years with hard labour could kill Steven and Tiwonge. Prison conditions are appallingly unhealthy,” he said.
“Detainees die in custody. Infectious diseases like TB are rife. Medical treatment is sub-standard. Food rations are very poor nutritional value; mostly maize porridge, beans and water, causing malnutrition. After only five months behind bars, Steven has been seriously ill and has not received proper medical treatment.”
May 19th, 2010
The Malawian Minister of Information, Leckford Mwanza Thotho reacts to yesterday’s conviction of Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, for gross indecency and “unnatural acts.” Thus saith Thotho:
“What we are saying is that the ruling or the court proceeding as of today, reflects our tradition in Malawi. It just shows that the gay issue is against our culture in Malawi,” he said.
…”What I’m trying to say is if polygamy is not allowed in America and we have not forced you to do that for the sake of human rights…so, if other countries allowed polygamy, and we say you have to allow polygamy for the sake of human rights, we are not doing fair to your situation in America. So, it’s the same thing with our country. Homosexuality is a taboo in Malawi,” Thotho said.
May 18th, 2010
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were found guilty today of gross indecency and “unnatural acts” in a verdict delivered at Blantyre Magistrate’s Court. Said Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa, “The state has proven beyond reasonable doubt that these gentlemen had sex despite them being male, which is against the law of Malawi.” The couple will be sentenced on Thursday, May 20. They face up to fourteen years imprisonment with hard labor. Lawyers hope to reverse the decision at High Court.
The verdict has earned condemnation from around the world:
“We have a reached a point in Malawi where we need to decide whether we regard minority groups as equal to others in terms of their human rights,” said Gift Trapence, executive director of the human rights group Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), who was in the courtroom Tuesday.
“Malawi is using laws brought in by the British,” he said. “They need to be updated.”
UK LGBT Advoate Peter Tatchell, who has been in close contact with Steven and Tiwonge, also denounced the verdict via press release:
“The law under which they were convicted is a discriminatory law that only applies to same-sex relations. It is unconstitutional. Article 20 of Malawi’s constitution guarantees equality and non-discrimination. The law in Malawi is not supposed to discriminate,” added Mr Tatchell.
“Malawi’s anti-gay laws were not devised by Malawians. They were devised in London in the nineteenth century and imposed on the people of Malawi by the British colonisers and their army of occupation. Before the British came and conquered Malawi, there were no laws against homosexuality. These laws are a foreign imposition. They are not African laws.
“I expect both men will now appeal against the verdict and against any sentence that is handed down. Steven and Tiwonge’s best hope is that a higher court will overturn this unjust, cruel verdict.”
Tatchell noted that the Magistrate appeared biased throughout the trial. The Magistrate had denied bail to the couple, which is an extreme rarity for a non-violent crime. The Magistrate also permitted witnesses from the gallery and court personnel to abuse the couple during official court proceedings.
Tatchell also reports that you can write to Steven and Tiwonge to offer them your support. You can address your letters and post cards to Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, Prisoners, Chichiri Prison, P.O.Box 30117, Blantyre 3, Malawi.
Update: Despite international condemnation, the Malawian government is quite pleased with the conviction.
May 18th, 2010
A Malawi Court will render its verdict today in the case involving Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, who were charged with buggery and gross indecency following a traditional engagement ceremony last December. The two will appear today before a Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa at Blantyre Magistrates Court, where they face up to fourteen years at hard labor. The Guardian (UK) reports that the Tiwonge and Steven have remained loyal to each other despite the hardships they’ve already faced:
Peter Tatchell, the veteran British gay rights campaigner, has maintained contact with the pair at the maximum security Chichiri prison in Blantyre as they prepare to stand trial next week.
Tatchell told the Guardian he received a defiant message from Chimbalanga that said: “I love Steven so much. If people or the world cannot give me the chance and freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless.”
Tatchell, of the rights group Outrage!, also quoted Monjeza – who is described as thin and weak with jaundiced eyes – as saying: “We have come a long way and even if our family relatives are not happy, I will never stop loving Tiwonge.”
The Guardian also reports that Tiwonge and Steven have been abandoned by their relatives:
Angry residents and relatives from Machinjiri township, on the outskirts of Blantyre, say they will not allow them to return home if they are set free.
“They have given this township a bad name,” said Maikolo Phiri, a local vendor.
Zione Monjeza, an aunt of Monjeza, said: “We as a family have been terribly embarrassed to be associated with this gay thing. It’s a curse and a big shame. We will chase them away if they are freed.”
Nchiteni Monjeza, Monjeza’s uncle, said: “I won’t drop a tear if they are jailed – they deserve it.”
May 13th, 2010
Sometimes news originating closer to home comes to us from half a world away, and in this case this is an especially good sign. It means that the main newspapers in Malawi are paying close attention to possible repercussions from abroad which stem from the ongoing prosecution of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, who have been held in deplorable conditions in a prison since late December on charges of buggery and “gross indecency” following a traditional engagement ceremony.
BNL Times and Nyasa Times are both reporting that a resolution is making its way through the US House Foreign Affairs Committee calling on the Malawi government to immediately release Chimbalanga and Monjeza “law and on humanitarian grounds.” Monjeza has reportedly been seriously ill and has been denied decent food and medical treatment.
The resolution further calls on the Malawi government to “urgently address the pervasive violation of human rights in Malawi and the criminalization of conduct by consenting adults” and directs Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to monitor human rights abuses based on sexual orientation in Malawi.
The resolution, introduced on May 6, was sponsored by Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and cosponsored by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Edward Markey (D-MA). The Nyasa Times adds that “The representatives aim to pass the resolution next week in order to help the couple before their final verdict slated on May 18 at the Blantyre magistrate court.” The couple face a maximum fourteen years imprisonment under harsh conditions.
In related news, the Nyasa Times also reports that the Malawi Law Society has also called for the couple’s immediate release, saying the society does not pose a danger to them and vice versa. Stephen and Tiwonge, who identifies as a woman, were denied bail ostensibly “for their own safety.”
April 13th, 2010
Stephen Monjeza, the Malawi man who has been imprisoned since late December for holding an engagement party with Tiwonge Chimbalanga who identifies as a woman, is critically ill and has been “vomiting, coughing and suffering from pain and pressure in his chest for the last eleven days,” according to UK LGBT advocate Peter Tatchell. Monjeza is being held in what has been described as deplorable conditions at Chichiri Prison in Blantyre, where sources tell Tatchell that he has been deprived of proper food, sanitation or medical care:
He looks very ill and has lost weight,” Tatchell quotes a prison source. He says that people who have seen him fear his health and that he needs urgent hospital care. “The prison authorities have failed to give Steven proper treatment, or even sufficient pain killers. His pain-killers ran out on 10 April,” said Tatchell.
He added: “My informant says Mr Monjeza urgently needs to go to hospital for a full medical examination and treatment. His health is likely to deteriorate further unless he gets swift medical care.”
Stephen and Tiwonge have been adopted by Amnesty International as “prisoners of conscience.” According to reports, their trial for buggery and “gross indecency” is still ongoing. A final sentencing is expected on May 18. The couple face up to fourteen years’ imprisonment if convicted.
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