Edited by CALS (Coalition of African Lesbians) and AMSHeR.

Violence against sexual minorities in Africa is rife. Persons belonging to or perceived to be members of the broad grouping ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)’ are often victim of violence in African states. This violence is sometimes perpetrated by state actors, such as the members of the Police force, and more often by ordinary persons (non-state actors). By condoning violence by state actors, and by failing to diligently investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of these acts, states fail to respect the basic right to security of some of its citizens. By condoning these actions, or by failing to act effectively, the state also violates its human rights obligations. The argument of this report is not that sexual minorities deserve special protection, but that they are entitled to the rights all other citizens have – the right to security, liberty, life, dignity, and a fair trial.

As members of the African Union, states are party to and should abide by their obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter). Like several other regional and international human rights instruments, the African Charter guarantees freedom from discrimination, and equal protection and equality of individuals and peoples’ before the law (articles 2, 3 and 19). The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission), the body monitoring compliance with the African Charter, has in various communications presented to it denounced acts of discrimination on several of the listed grounds of discrimination and has clearly established that ‘other status’ (in article 2 of the Charter) can be broadly interpreted to include grounds other than those explicitly listed under that provision of the African Charter. The Commission made its first pronouncement on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues in its Concluding Observations on Cameroon’s periodic report of 2005 by expressing concern about the upsurge in intolerance towards sexual minorities. Most recently, the Chairperson of the Commission issued a statement on in April 2013 stating that the he Commission ‘equally denounces violence committed against individuals based on their sexual orientation as part of its mandate to protect individuals from all forms of violence’.

Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2013. 57p.

By Henry Herbert Goddard.

This book is offered to the public in the belief that the three cases herein described are typical of a large proportion of criminal cases and that the analysis and discussion at- tempted will help to make clear important points which are often misunderstood, points relative to the criminal and to the imbecile. A clear conception of the nature of the imbecile and of his relation to crime will inevitably result in a most desirable change in our criminal procedure. It should be noted that we use "imbecile" in the legal sense which includes the moron and often the idiot as scientifically classified. This usage is justified since much of the literature still describes all mental defectives as imbeciles, idiots, or feeble-minded —according to the preference of the writers. These cases are unique in that they were the first court cases in which the Binet-Simon tests were admitted in evidence, the mental status of these persons under indictment being largely determined by this method.

New York: Macmillan, 1916.188p.

By R. Alexander.

The illegality of the East India Company's monopoly of the drug; and its injurious effects upon India, China, and the commerce of Great Britain. Five letters addressed to the earl of Shaftesbury 3d ed., rev. and enl. Contents: 1. On the institution of the opium monopoly, and its effects upon India -- 2. Rise and consequences of smuggling in China -- 3. Effects upon the commerce of Great Britain and China -- 4. Testimonies against the contraband trade -- 5. Illegality of the opium monopoly in India and suggestions for its suppression.

London: Judd and Glass, 1856. 214p.

By Thomas Stone, M.D

Measurements of the Heads of the most notorious thieves Confined in the Edinburgh jail and bridewell, And of various individuals, English, Scotch, and Irish, Presenting an extensive series of facts subversive of phrenology. Read before the royal medical society of Edinburgh. ““Assail our facts, and we are undone; Phrenology admits of no exceptions.”(Phrenological Journal, vol. iii. p. 256).

Edinburgh: Robert Buchanan, 1829. 85p.

By Arthur Macdonald.

Being Essays on Education and Crime and Related Subjects, With Digests of Literature and a Bibliography. The present work may perhaps be considered as an introduction to abnormality in general, giving a description, diagnosis, and synthesis of human abnormalities, which seem to be constant factors in society.

Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of Education, Government Printing Office, 1893. 463p.

By J. Sanderson Christison.

“Last winter I contributed a series of articles to the Chicago Tribune under the caption of "Jail Types," which were so favorably noticed, both in Europe and America, that my friends have urged their appearance in book form. With some typographical corrections, the articles are here presented in their original text, with a number of additional sketches. While they do not constitute a systematic treatise on the subject of criminology, they present the points of most importance in a form and style intended to attract and interest the general reader, who will find much to reflect upon in the line of duty as a member of society at large.” (from Preface)

Chicago: THE W. T. Keener Co. 1897 117p.

By Cesare Lombroso.

From the Preface: “Just as giants pay a heavy ransom for their stature in sterility and relative muscular and mental weakness, so the giants of thought expiate their intellectual force in degeneration and psychoses. It is thus that the signs of degeneration are found more frequently in men of genius than even in the insane.”

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1891) 403 pages.

By M. J. L. Hardy.

And the Payment of Blood Money in The Middle East. The classic text on feuding, violence and the rules of engagement. “…traces the history of a distinctive legal institution in Arab society, that of settling of blood feuds and the payment of blood money following cases of violent death of physical injury.”

Beirut (1963) 101p.

As Used in Great Britain and Ireland.by J.G. Garson. “The warrant appointing the Committee directed them to inquire (a) into the method of registering and identifying habitual criminals then in use in England; (b) into the “ Anthropometric ” system of classified registration and identification in use in France and other countries; (c) into the suggested system of identification by means of a record of finger -marks; to report whether the anthropometric system or the finger-mark system could, with advantage, be adopted into England, either in substitution for, or to supplement the then existing methods, and, if so, what arrangements should be adopted for putting them into practice, and what rules should be made under Section 8 of the Penal Servitude Act, 1891, for the photographing and measuring of prisoners.” London: Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 1900. 38p.