Canada: HIV "murderer" Aziga now also a "dangerous offender", locked up for life

Johnson Aziga, 55, an African migrant living with HIV, is a now officially a "dangerous offender" according to Canadian criminal law.

Mr Aziga is already considered a "murderer" two times over. He was convicted in 2009 of two counts of first-degree murder, ten counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault, because he had unprotected sex with eleven women without telling them he had HIV. Seven of the women subsequently tested HIV-positive, and two died of AIDS-related cancers within a couple of years of having had sex with Mr Aziga.

[A number of articles and blog posts on Mr Aziga's trial – and the media's reaction to it – can be found on my blog.]

Being a "dangerous offender" means he will likely remain in prison for the rest of his life – even in the unlikely event that his life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder convictions is overturned on appeal. [The whole "dangerous offender" process is considered by some legal experts to be discriminatory and "dangerous" because "putting the onus on criminals makes it too easy for the court system to declare people dangerous offenders.]

Johnson Aziga would have been at least 78 years old if he had been able to be considered for release after 25 years. And yet, somehow, the Canadian legal system considers that at this age, Mr Aziga's libido would be so voracious, his appeal so alluring to Canada's heterosexual female population, that he must be locked up for life.

Mr. Aziga's sex drive “is head and shoulders above” the average man's and “knowing his need for sex is not going to be satisfied” could deter him from disclosing his HIV status to potential partners, [Crown attorney Karen Shea argued]. “He didn't abstain from sex knowing what he knew (about having HIV), he didn't discuss his HIV status knowing what he knew and he didn't wear a condom knowing what he knew,” she told the court.

I am the only person that sees this as absurd - as both racist and HIV-phobic?

The legal characterisation of men of African origin with HIV as 'monstrously' hypersexual is not new. Back in 1993, Canada tried to convict Charles Ssenyonga of similar 'crimes' (His 'victims', like Aziga's, were all white women; his virus, like Aziga's, a "rare African strain".) Ssenyonga died before the trial concluded. The prosecution (and media's) focus on his hypersexual Africanness was explored in a fabulous 2005 article by James Miller, 'African Immigrant Damnation Syndrome: The Case of Charles Ssenyonga' published as part of a special issue of the social science journal, Sexuality Research & Social Policy called 'Reckless Vectors: The Infecting “Other” in HIV/AIDS Law.'

In the introduction by the journal's editors Heather Worth, Cindy Patton, and Diane Goldstein, they highlight the issue of racism in HIV criminal cases.

...the fact that the accused is African is used to indicate a priori an excessive and lethal sexuality and to position Africa itself as a deviant and viral continent and as the source and cause of AIDS. This prejudice extends to successive generations of African immigrants, as can be seen in the case of Nushawn Williams, an African American man from upstate New York. The same focus on Williams’ Black, eroticized body is evident in the numerous media accounts of the case.

Interestingly, Nushawn Williams is currently going through exactly the same process as Mr Aziga, having already served the maximum sentence of 12 years for the 'crimes' he pleaded guilty to back in 1998. Back in May 2010, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that Mr Williams "poses a danger to society and as a result, must remain behind bars even though his sentence is complete." He is now awaiting the outcome of his civil confinement hearing that has been delayed for almost a year.

Mr Aziga and Mr Williams are being punished twice over. The idea that society is protected from HIV by keeping them in prison indefinitely is erroneous and outrageous. In the past men used to "lock up their daughters" when a man of purported huge sexual prowess came sniffing around, as if their female offspring did not have a sexuality or a choice in whether or not to have sex with their suitor.

Now, society locks up "HIV monsters" because it thinks female members of society need protecting from them, as if they did not have a sexuality or a choice in whether or not to have sex with their suitor.

But the real problem is that focusing on Black or African HIV (in the guise of Aziga or Williams) creates a false sense of security because all sex comes with risks of HIV infection (and these risks are usually much higher from someone with HIV who is undiagnosed, and therefore unable to disclose).

Wouldn't it be better – and more cost-effective – to spend some money on HIV prevention education for the general public, so that white heterosexual women, and others who think that they are not at risk for HIV because they haven't been targeted with HIV prevention information (usually aimed at 'key populations' like gay men and Black or African communities) can learn how to protect themselves from HIV rather than foolishly relying on the criminal law to protect them after the fact?

US: Nushawn Williams "poster child" of newly proposed HIV-specific law faces a lifetime of civil confinement (update 2)

Update: July 20th
A New York Supreme Court judge in Buffalo has dismissed Nushawn Williams's petition for release and ruled he could remain in jail while awaiting his October trial under New York's Civil Confinement Law.

Update: May 11th
No big surprise, but a New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled that Nushawn Williams "poses a danger to society and as a result, must remain behind bars even though his sentence is complete."

State Supreme Court Justice John Michalski said there is probable cause that Williams suffers from a "sexual abnormality" that would pose a danger to society.

With the ruling, Williams could now face a trial to determine his future status.

Both sides are due back in court next month as they hold arguments over a defense motion to dismiss the case.

Under a civil law, passed in 2007, the state can lock up a sex offender indefinitely if it proves the person has a mental abnormality and is likely to offend again.

Original post: April 23rd

The impact of the 1997 Nushawn Williams case continues to reverberate in New York. Following last year's denied request for parole, there are now plans to keep him locked up forever by New York's Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.

The New York Times reported on April 13th

Mr. Williams, 33, was due to be released on Tuesday after serving his maximum sentence of 12 years, but Mr. Cuomo’s office is seeking to keep him in custody under a three-year-old state law that permits the civil confinement of sex offenders. Last Friday, a state judge in Buffalo, near where Mr. Williams has been jailed, ordered that he remain in custody pending the outcome of a civil confinement proceeding.

Now, State Senator Cathy Young of Olean is not only urging Cuomo to keep Williams in civil confinement but also proposing a new HIV-specific law for New York using Williams as a "poster child". Back in February 2009, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota teamed up with Parents for Megan's Law to advocate for the same thing.

Here is Senator Young's press release, featuring her proposed law in full.

Senator Cathy Young (R,I,C – Olean) today renewed her call for a law making it a crime to knowingly spread the deadly HIV/AIDS virus to other unsuspecting people. Senator Young’s announcement comes in the wake of news that Nushawn Williams, the man who caused an AIDS epidemic in Chautauqua County in the 1990s, had completed his prison sentence and could be released to the public.

Senator Young also called on New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to rigorously fight to ensure that Williams remains confined in a psychiatric facility and is not let back out into the community.

“People who knowingly use HIV/AIDS as a deadly weapon by purposely exposing others to the disease should be severely punished. This proposed law would provide the appropriate penalties for those who callously put other people’s lives in jeopardy, and will help further prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS by keeping victims and prison supervisors informed when inmates test positive for the virus.”

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that he is seeking, under New York’s Sex Offender Management Act, to have Williams confined in a state-operated psychiatric facility.

Senator Young said, “Nushawn Williams is the poster child for why we need a civil confinement law in New York State. I urge Attorney General Cuomo to do everything in his power to ensure that Williams remains confined. This deadly predator must not be returned to society.”

Senator Young’s legislation would create the crimes of reckless endangerment of the public health in the 1st and 2nd degrees for people who test positive for HIV/AIDS and then recklessly engage in conduct which results in transmission of HIV/AIDS to another unsuspecting person or puts that person at substantial risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

The bill would also, among other provisions, required persons charged with a sex offense or reckless endangerment of the public health to be tested for HIV/AIDS and the results to be available to the victim (s) upon request.

The announcement in the fall of 1997, that Nushawn Williams had been informed of his HIV-positive status but continued to have unprotected sex with numerous women and underage girls in Chautauqua County, shocked the state and the nation. Williams was directly responsible for infecting thirteen victims statewide with HIV, two of whom passed on the virus to their children.

Williams completed his 12-year sentence for reckless endangerment and two counts of statutory rape last Tuesday, but continues to be held at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden.

While in prison, Williams tossed his HIV-tainted urine at another inmate, said he wanted to infect more women with HIV when he is released, fought with other prisoners, engaged in gang activity, and arranged to have drugs smuggled in and used them. He did not complete any sex offender or drug treatment programs.

In a required pre-release psychiatric evaluation, Williams was found to be antisocial, psychopathic, lacking in remorse and “prone to further sexual contact with underage individuals because of deficits in his emotional capacity to understand why this is wrong.”

Specifically, Senator Young’s legislation (S. 3407) would:

- Create the crime of reckless endangerment of the public health in the 1st degree, a class B felony, for those who are aware that they have tested positive for HIV/AIDS and then recklessly engage in conduct which results in transmission of the virus to another person who is unaware of the condition. Also creates the crime or reckless endangerment of the public health in the 2nd degree, a class C felony, for those who have tested positive and then engage in conduct which creates a substantial risk of the transmission of HIV/AIDS to another unwitting person;

- Create a class E felony for providing false information or statement regarding HIV status to a health care provider;

- Require all currently incarcerated persons and persons newly entering a correctional

facility be tested for the HIV virus;

- Provide that a person charged with a sex offense under article 130 of the State Penal Law or reckless endangerment in the 1st or 2nd degrees must be tested for HIV and the results of the test made available to the victim (s) and defendant upon request;

- Provide that upon the diagnosis of an inmate with HIV/AIDS, notice of the diagnosis must be provided to corrections personnel and others involved in the supervision and care of the inmate to that they can take appropriate measure to protect themselves and other inmates from exposure.