In a new briefing looking at 12 African countries, Amnesty documented how legal systems were increasingly weaponised in the past year to systematically target and discriminate against LGBTI individuals. This includes instances where laws were employed to persecute and marginalise members of the LGBTI community, highlighting a trend of legal mechanisms being used as instruments of oppression. “Across Africa, LGBTI persons find themselves contending with a disturbing regression of progress, facing relentless protests against their identities, and confronting formidable obstacles to their legal and social rights,” commented Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.