Senegal Doubles Prison Terms for Same-Sex Relations
Lawmakers unanimously passed a bill increasing prison terms to 10 years and criminalizing support for LGBTQ people.
Senegal’s National Assembly has passed a bill doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex relations to 10 years and criminalizing pro-LGBTQ advocacy.
The bill passed by a vote of 135-0, with three lawmakers abstaining, and now heads to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye for his signature.
The law — delivering on a campaign promise by the ruling government led by Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko — imposes harsher penalties under a colonial-era statute criminalizing “acts against nature,” reports Reuters.
That law has been, and will continue to be, used to prosecute instances of homosexuality, bisexuality, and “transsexuality” — or publicly identifying with or adhering to gender norms that do not match one’s assigned sex at birth. The statute also criminalizes acts such as zoophilia and necrophilia, effectively placing homosexuality in the same legal category as those offenses.
Penalties include increasing the maximum prison sentence from five to 10 years and raising fines from 1.5 million CFA francs (about $2,700) to 10 million CFA francs (about $17,455).
Judges would be barred from granting suspended sentences or reducing prison terms below the new minimum sentence, which was increased from one year to five years. The measure also criminalizes “apology” for same-sex relations, allowing authorities to prosecute not only those who “promote” or finance events encouraging homosexuality, but also anyone who expresses support for LGBTQ people or favorable opinions about LGBTQ rights.
Imami Babacar Sylla, the leader of And Samm Jikko Yi, a network of Islamic and civil society organizations, urged Faye to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.
“The longer it takes, the more complicated it will be. And these people, whom I consider a public danger, will continue to escape,” Sylla said, referring to LGBTQ people.
Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from the ruling Pastef party, organized a demonstration in Dakar in which participants shouted, “No to homosexuality!” and held signs with rainbows crossed out, reports Reuters.
Even as the bill moved through the legislative process, authorities have carried out a surge of arrests related to suspected homosexual acts. As previously reported by the International Federation of Human Rights, between February 9 and 24, at least 27 men were arrested and detained on various charges, including “unnatural acts” and alleged “intentional transmission” of HIV — a crime that also carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The federation has called on Senegalese authorities to reject the law and “put an end” to what it calls “arbitrary arrests,” arguing in an Instagram post that the measure would “undermine the freedom of expression and the right to privacy, in violation of Senegal’s international and regional commitments.”
“Further tightening repression will only fuel violence, fear, and impunity,” Drissa Traoré, the Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights, said in a statement when the legislation was introduced last month. “Senegalese authorities have an obligation to protect all persons without discrimination, not to designate scapegoats.”
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