Botswana's High Court has ruled in favour of decriminalising consensual same-sex relations. Responding to the ruling, Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said: “Today’s court judgement sends a strong message that no one should be harassed, discriminated against or criminalised because of their sexual orientation. With this ruling, Botswana has said ‘no’ to intolerance and hate and ‘yes’ to hope and equality for all people. “For far too long, people entering same-sex relationships in Botswana were discriminated against by the very same laws that are

A ruling by South Africa’s highest court has confirmed that the deportation of two individuals to Botswana cannot go ahead because if deported they face a real risk of the death penalty in what Amnesty International has hailed as a “principled stance”. In a key moment in South African law, the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg earlier today rejected an appeal brought by the government against an earlier ruling that any transfer of Jerry Phale and Emmanuel Tsebe to Botswana without prior assurances that the death penalty would not be applied, would be unlawful. During the ruling Acting