IACHR applauds court decision on consensual same-sex relations in Barbados

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has welcomed a court ruling that found that two sections of Barbados’ Sexual Offences Act criminalising private consensual same-sex relations are unconstitutional.

And it has urged other nations to follow suit.

“The criminalisation of consensual relationships of LGBTI adults violates the principle of equality and non-discrimination, as well as the right to privacy and human dignity. The IACHR calls on all the states in the Americas and the Caribbean to repeal laws that criminalise consensual sexual relations between adults or allow for the prosecution of LGBTI persons in any other form.

“States must also take positive action to create a legal framework to protect LGBTI persons from all forms of violence and discrimination,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The IACHR was responding to a High Court ruling last December that the offence of buggery, under Section 9 of the Sexual Offences Act, and the offence of serious indecency, under Section 12 of the same Act, are unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect to the extent that they apply to consensual sexual relations between adults in private.

The decision was handed down in a case brought by Rene Holder-McClean Ramirez and Raven Gill.

The IACHR, an autonomous arm of the Organization of American States, noted that before that decision, Barbados had, through the buggery provision, the harshest penalty criminalising private consensual same-sex relations in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Under Section 9, men convicted of engaging in same-sex sexual activity could be sentenced to life imprisonment, while under Section 12, both men and women faced up to 10 years imprisonment.

“The criminalisation of consensual same sex relations legitimises and reinforces prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans persons, or those perceived as such, while sending a social message to communities and societies that discrimination and violence is condoned or tolerated,” it said.

The IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. It is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

(PR/BT)