President of Malawi pardons gay couple: The Church of England Newspaper, June 4, 2010 p 8.

President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The President of Malawi has pardoned two men sentenced last month to 14 years imprisonment for sodomy following pleas for clemency from world political and religious leaders.

On May 20 Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were convicted of “indecent practices between males” and “unnatural offences.” They were arrested following a Dec 28 engagement ceremony that sought to test Malawi’s colonial era sodomy laws and provoke debate over homosexuality in the conservative Central African nation.

The convictions had sparked concern from overseas leaders and churchmen. On May 26 the bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa released a statement urging South African President Jacob Zuma to intercede for the two men with the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika, while Archbishop Rowan Williams on May 27 said he welcomed the South African bishops’ statement in support of clemency.

President Mutharika pardoned the two men on May 28 following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The UN leader urged the President to reform Malawi’s vice code and asked Parliament to “take appropriate steps to update laws discriminating based on sexual orientation in line with international standards.”

The president said “these boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws.

“However, as the head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions,” he told reporters, adding that “I have done this on humanitarian grounds but this does not mean that I support this.”

On Dec 28 Chimbalanga (20) and Monjeza (26) participated in an engagement ceremony at Mankhoma Lodge in Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre. Dressed in traditional Malawian attire, the couple exchanged presents and announced their intent to marry. The ceremony did not go off as planned, however, as power cuts interrupted the proceedings and on-lookers voiced disapproval after Chimbalanga’s gender — he was dressed as a woman — was made known to patrons of the lodge. The couple’s actions were reported to the police, who took them into custody later that day for violating “offences against morality” under sections 153 and 156 of the penal code.

After the pair’s conviction, the South African bishops stated that though there was a “breadth of theological views among us on matters of human sexuality, we are united in opposing the criminalisation of homosexual people.”

The sentence of 14 years hard labour was a “gross violation of human rights” the bishops said, and urged the South African government to lobby for “the swift release of these two individuals, who have committed no act of violence or harm against anyone; for the quashing of the sentence against them; and for the repeal of this repressive legislation.”

However, Malawian government and church leaders have supported the prosecution of the two men and a reform of Malawian laws is unlikely. During the trial, President Mutharika had called homosexuality “evil and very bad before the eyes of God,” while Anthony Kamanga, Malawi’s solicitor general and secretary for justice and constitutional affairs, told CNN that the country’s vice laws do not conflict with the constitution.

The Minister of Gender and Children, Patricia Kaliati told the BBC the two men would be rearrested if they reoffended.

The president’s pardon does not “mean that now they are free people, [and] can keep doing whatever you keep doing,” she said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain welcomed “the announcement by President Mutharika to pardon Mr Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Mr Steven Monjeza. Britain has a close and strong partnership with Malawi and it is in this spirit that we raised our concerns about these convictions with the government of Malawi.”

“The UK believes that human rights apply to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said: “These individuals were not criminals and their struggle is not unique. We must all recommit ourselves to ending the persecution and criminalisation of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“We hope that President Mutharika’s pardon marks the beginning of a new dialogue which reflects the country’s history of tolerance and a new day for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Malawi and around the globe,” Mr Gibbs said.