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Senegal urged to legalise gay
13 Feb 2008- Senegal -
As the dust surrounding the
arrest and detention of people accused of taking part in a clandestine
gay marriage in Senegal is yet to be settled, several international
organisations have called on Senegalese authorities to decriminalise
homosexuality in the country.
Several men who took part in a
wedding between a Senegalese man and another West African were detained
after a local magazine, Icone, published their photos. They were later
released without official explanation.
The publication has generated the anger and shock in some quarters, with
some people threatening to kill the paper's editor, Mansour Dieng.
Homosexuality is a serious criminal offence that carries a five-year
punishment and heavy fine in predominantly conservative Muslim West
African country where gay men and women remain socially marginalised.
According to human rights organisations, including the International
Federation of Human Rights, the Inter-African Union of Human Rights and
Amnesty International in Senegal, the decriminalisation of homosexuality
is a characteristic of a democratic society that respects human rights
of its people.
Right activists wondered how this could be possible in Senegal.
The practice is forbidden in many African countries where several
Presidents have been accused of "brutally" acting on their will to
combat personally what they called this "anti-African scourge." Those
found guilty of homosexual acts in some African countries such as
Nigeria and Uganda could be jailed for life.
In 2006, South Africa became the first African country to legalise
same-sex marriages.
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