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We condemn in the strongest terms the conviction by a court in Blantyre today of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga for committing so-called "unnatural acts". Steven and Tiwonge were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement and have been in jail ever since.
The continued incitement, in multiple African countries especially Zimbabwe, Malawi and Uganda, against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people is a gross violation of human rights. In allowing this abuse to continue, the door has been opened to reversing and retard progress on all human rights, including the right to dignity and full social, legal and political equality for women and freedom of expression and the media amongst others.
To protest this crime SECTION27 is calling for an emergency picket outside the Malawian High Commission (770 Government Avenue, Arcadia, Pretoria) at 11 am tomorrow (Wednesday 18th May) to draw the world's attention to this outrage.
We call on our government to denounce this and to raise the issue in the Southern African Development Community.
We believe that the Malawian government needs to protect its citizen's rights.
We know it is short notice, but we ask concerned people to join us on this protest. The two men are due to be sentenced on Thursday. Now that they have been convicted they could face up to 14 years in jail.

We hope that the Malawian Ambassador and his government will hear our voices and know that much louder protests will be heard across the world in days to come.
A court in Malawi has convicted a gay couple of gross indecency and unnatural acts.
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement ahead of a wedding planned for 2010.
They have been in jail ever since and now face 14 years in prison.
Their arrest had sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.
Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa convicted both men of engaging in gay sex, which he said was "against the order of nature". They are to be sentenced on 20 May.
'No victims'
In calling for a lighter sentence, the couple's lawyer argued that the pair's actions had not victimised anyone.
"Unlike in a rape case, there was no complainant or victim in this case," he said. "Here are two consenting adults doing their thing in private. Nobody will be threatened or offended if they are released into society."
But the chief prosecutor welcomed the judge's decision.
"In Malawi, we don't allow men to marry men or women to marry women," said Dickens Mwambazi. "I think 90% of the crowd here agree with the ruling."
Same-sex liaisons are frowned upon in Malawi, where homosexual acts are outlawed.
The men had denied the charges and their lawyers said their constitutional rights had been violated.
But the Centre for the Development of People (Cedep) and the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) have been urging authorities to relax the country's stance on homosexuals.
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre, Malawi's commerical capital, says the government is also coming under pressure from Western donors over the issue.
For a poor country, 40% of whose development budget depends on donors, such concerns must be taken seriously, he adds.