The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has urged Caribbean nations that continue to uphold laws criminalising same-sex relations to repeal them. This call follows the IACHR’s support for last month’s ruling by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), which found the criminalisation of consensual same-sex relations between adults in St Lucia to be unconstitutional.
The IACHR, an autonomous body of the Organisation of American States (OAS), said that with this decision, St Lucia joins other countries whose courts have struck down criminalization provisions as human rights violations.
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In 2021, litigants Randall Theodule, Vernon Bellas and United and Strong Incorporation filed a claim against the St Lucia Government, contending that sections 132 and 133 of the Criminal Code, criminalising buggery and gross indecency with a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, were inconsistent with various constitutional rights protected under the constitution.
The ECSC, in its ruling on July 29, found that the legislation which criminalised same sex consensual acts contravened the rights to protection of the law, privacy and discrimination, among others.
The court also found a probable link between these laws and prejudice-based crimes against persons with diverse sexual orientations.
The IACHR said that legislative provisions that criminalise private consensual same sex relations are against international human rights standards, as they violate human dignity, privacy and freedom of expression.
