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Anti-gay laws widespread in Africa despite gains
PARIS, June 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – More than half of the countries in sub-
Saharan Africa have anti-homosexuality laws, although others have moved
towards legal tolerance, watchdogs say.
Twenty-eight out of 49 countries have laws penalising same-sex
relationships, according to Neela Ghoshal, a Human Rights Watch (HRW)
specialist in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.
The death penalty is on the books, under sharia, in Mauritania, Sudan and
northern Nigeria, although there have been no known executions in recent
times.
In southern Somalia, gay men are believed to have been put to death in
territory ruled by the Al Shabaab jihadist group.
However, Angola, Mozambique and Seychelles have scrapped anti-gay laws in
recent years.
Last month, Kenya’s high court caused widespread dismay when it refused to
scrap laws criminalising gay sex.
Chad, Nigeria and Burundi have introduced or toughened legislation.
Rights groups say many anti-gay laws date from the colonial area.
They represent a peril even in countries where they are not implemented,
according to campaigners, as their existence on the statute books entrenches
stigma and encourages harassment.
Following is a snapshot of the legal situation in Africa, provided by AFP
bureaux:
ANGOLA: In January scrapped a notorious “vices against nature” provision
in its penal code, and made the refusal to employ or provide services to
someone on the grounds of their sexual orientation liable to a jail term of
up to two years.
CHAD: Approved a law in May 2017 to punish “same-sex sexual relations”
with between three months’ and two years’ jail and a fine ranging from 50,000
to 500,000 FCFA (76 to 760 euros, $85 to $850).
BOTSWANA: On June 11, the High Court will rule on a case brought by
campaign group Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana challenging the
constitutionality of a law punishing same-sex conduct.
GABON: The first gay traditional wedding was conducted in 2013 but the
couple were immediately arrested following an outcry. The pair were released
and the marriage overturned on technical grounds.
LESOTHO: In 2012, approved a penal code which scrapped a common-law regime
under which sodomy had been criminalised. Initiated a process in 2016 to
legalise same-sex marriage, although the law is making little headway in
parliament.
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MALAWI: Debating the legal status of homosexuality. In 2012, the
government ordered a moratorium on arrests and prosecutions for consensual
homosexual acts between adults. In 2016, the High Court suspended the
moratorium pending a judicial review by the Constitutional Court.
MOZAMBIQUE: In 2015, swept away Portuguese colonial laws dating back to
1886 that punished anyone “who habitually engages in vices against nature.”
No known prosecutions under those laws occurred after Mozambique gained
independence in 1975.
MALI: No anti-homosexuality law, but conservative Islamic groups last
December successfully campaigned against a Dutch-funded schoolbook on sexual
education, maintaining it promoted homosexuality.
NIGERIA: Law introduced in 2014 provides for up to 14 years in jail for
same-sex cohabitation and any “public show of same-sex amorous relationship”.
In the north, sharia makes homosexuality punishable by death in theory.
SOUTH AFRICA: In 2006, South Africa became the sole African nation to
allow gay marriage. The country has become a haven for African homosexuals
who flee persecution at home or travel to the country to get married before
returning home. TANZANIA: A conviction for having “carnal knowledge of any
person against the order of nature” can lead to 30 years in jail or more.
Political rhetoric against homosexuality has increased since President John
Magufuli was elected in 2015. Foreign gay rights activists have been expelled
and last October, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, the country’s
economic capital, threatened to arrest homosexuals.
UGANDA: Defying Western criticism, President Yoweri Museveni in February
2014 signed an Anti-Homosexual Bill that hiked the penalty for same-sex
relations from seven years to life, and extended punishments to people found
guilty of “promoting” homosexuality. However, it was annulled by the courts
six months later, in what activists hailed as a victory.
ZAMBIA: Homosexuality is widely reviled and same-sex relationships can
draw sentences of between a year and 14 years in jail. Earlier this year, TV
regulators ordered a new locally-produced reality show, “Lusaka Hustle,” to
be taken off the air on the grounds that it promoted a gay lifestyle.
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