Kenya: Call to ban forced anal examinations to 'prove' homosexuality

Homosexuality in Kenya — In Kenya, homosexuality is still criminalised and has faced recent witch-hunts Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Rights groups have urged the government in Kenya to take immediate steps to ban forced anal examinations of men accused of homosexuality. Under international law, forced anal examinations are a form of inhuman and degrading treatment that may amount to torture, and they represent rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

In Kenya, which is one of 78 countries worldwide that have laws banning sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex, the 19th century method is used by law enforcement officials to attempt to "prove" homosexuality.

Appeal challenging use of forced anal examinations

On 4 May, the Mombasa high court will hear a constitutional petition challenging the use of forced anal examinations.

What are forced anal examinations?

According to HRW, which has been documenting the use of forced anal examinations in eight countries since 2010, these tests involve doctors or other medical personnel inserting their fingers, and sometimes other objects, into the anus of the accused.

"In other cases, men are ordered to strip naked and bend over or lie down with their feet in stirrups while doctors "visually" examine their anal regions," HRW stated.

Law enforcement officials and some medical personnel claim that by forcibly penetrating or otherwise examining the anuses of men accused of homosexuality, they can determine the shape of the anus and prove whether these men have engaged in homosexual conduct.

As well as Kenya, HRW documented cases of forced examinations in Cameroon, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda and Zambia.

More about LGBT in Kenya: 'Government needs to stop violent anti-gay attacks'

Two male petitioners, identified only as C.O.I. and G.M.N. claim that doctors at Mombasa's Coast General Provincial Hospital, in collaboration with police officers, violated their rights by subjecting them to these examinations and HIV tests in February 2015, while they were in police custody on charges related to alleged homosexual conduct.

"Anal examinations prove nothing, and they accomplish nothing, other than humiliating and demeaning people who are considered moral 'outcasts,'" Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher on LGBT rights at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said.

"It's frankly shocking to see such archaic methods used in Kenya in the 21th century (...) The men in the Mombasa case, and dozens of others around the world, should never have had to undergo such a humiliating and demeaning procedure, and governments should prevent this from happening to others in the future."

Examinations may 'constitute rape'

According to the rights organisation, forced anal examinations violate the Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights, and the African Convention On Human And Peoples' Rights – treaties that Kenya has signed.

"Under international law and Kenya's Sexual Offences Act, if the exams involve any form of unwanted penetration, they constitute sexual assault and possibly rape," HRW stated on 3 April.

The UN special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, meanwhile, in January described the practice as "medically worthless and amounts to torture or ill-treatment".

Independent Forensic Expert Group (IFEG), a group of more than 35 eminent forensic experts from 20 countries, also condemned the examinations. Vincent Iacopino, a medical director at Physicians for Human Rights and IFEG member, explained that "anal examinations to detect homosexuality" have no scientific value, are unethical and constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and possibly torture".

In a statement, released on 3 May, Iacopino said the issue has been underexposed and ill understood around the world.