Arrests of Gay Men in Senegal

LGBT Groups Express Outrage and Concern

Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC Communications Coordinator, 212-430-6016

(New York, Monday February 4, 2008)- In a letter to Senegalese Minister of Justice, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and PAN-Africa ILGA have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of up to 20 gay men believed to have been arrested on suspicion of homosexuality in Senegal in the past week.

At least 7 and perhaps as many as 20 gay men have been arrested in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, since the morning of Sunday 3 February after a popular local magazine, Icones, published photographs of a marriage ceremony between two Senegalese men. The wedding is believed to have taken place in a discrete location in Dakar more than a year-and-a-half ago. Sources report that the photographs were sold to the sensationalist magazine by the photographer for 1,500,000 ($3000) CFA francs. The arrests were reportedly undertaken upon the orders of Mr. Asane Ndoye, head of the Senegalese Police's Division of Criminal Investigation. It is unclear where the men and women are being held.

"Mass arrests of people simply because they are gay terrorize the entire community," said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director. "The inhuman treatment of gay men and lesbians must stop. We call upon the world community to enforce international human rights law." The U.N. Human Rights Committee affirmed in its decision in Toonen v. Australia (1994) that existing protection against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) incorporates sexual orientation as a protected status.

"We are afraid for our lives, especially those of us shown in the photographs," said Jean R., a Senegalese gay activist who spoke to ILGA and IGLHRC from a hotel where he is seeking refuge. "Some of us have gone into hiding and others are fleeing the country."

Senegal is one of the few Francophone African countries that penalize homosexuality. Under Article 3.913 of the Senegalese penal code, homosexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of 100,000 ($200) to 1,500,000 ($3,000) CFA francs. While there are occasional arrests and convictions of gay men under the Article, social stigma and blackmail are the most prevalent abuses faced by gay men in the country.

"Many consider Senegal to be one of the most progressive African countries on the issue of homosexuality," said Joel Nana, IGLHRC's Program Associate for West Africa. "The government has included a commitment to fighting HIV among men who have sex with men in its national AIDS response plan since 2005. That's why we found these arrests to be very distressing."

Senegal has strong political and economic ties to a number of conservative Islamic governments and institutions, and will be hosting the summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference in March. The OIC has invested heavily in the rehabilitation of Dakar's infrastructure in preparation for the Summit.

Under the circumstances, IGLHRC and Pan-African ILGA expressed concern as to whether Senegal is well-suited to host the upcoming International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), scheduled to take place in Dakar in December 2008.

"There will be no room for an open and inclusive discussion on the human rights dimensions of HIV in the face of such harassment," said Danilo da Silva, co-chair of Pan-African ILGA, a federation gathering over 40 lesbian and gay groups from all parts of Africa. "We expect more from a leading country like Senegal."

At Home

Seated at home.

He is leaning against me. Listening to a song in one of our mother-tongues on the TV.

The cd-player is on. Mozart. For some reason I like it in the background. Un-obstructive.

Cosy home life. Apparently.

It is. It has to be.

Today in the morning, I saw an email from an ILGA contact. On the far side of the continent, another couple had the same. Dakar, Senegal. They decided to go ahead and formalise their relationship in a marriage. A gay marriage.

They had it. Their wedding day.

They are happy. They were happy.

That is, until the pictures of their wedding bliss got into a local newspaper. It has turned, predictably into a national furor. A wedding. Two men getting married. And that moment of personal bliss turns into the nightmare of arrest and prosecution.

It doesn’t matter that those two guys love each other. It doesn’t matter that they have risked their all in the name of this love. It doesn’t matter that the occasion does not have any victim, or indeed, that the people who went out of their way did it in secret. What matters to the community, is that some mores have been broken, and that the community has gotten to know of it. So the outcry is, horror! Arrest them!

And, ridiculous as it seems, the press is announcing that the country’s highest ‘Criminal Investigation Body’ is doing its best to trace all of them, and arrest them.

Did I mention that we were cozy at home?

Yes. An idyllic time. Monday evening.

The weekend was hectic. Couple of parties that I attended. And new school term started today. Traffic jams.

Needed a rest today, and the evening was particularly beautiful. Calming, as the heat of the day melted into night and coolness.

Our forbidden love indeed. Aint we lucky to be able to share it?

I don’t think I am brave. A series of logical steps which I had to take, we had to make. Yet, though we do love each other, and are not harming anyone, our communities would throw off all other problems in the outrage of us celebrating our love. Like we celebrated seven years of living together. Guess we should be thankful for this celebrity status of our personal life.

Life is beautiful. I, we know that we risk. And we know that it may be life itself.

But, in the same breath, I look at what I would be without my lover. Is unhappiness in life a good bargain for having to conform?

I, we chose happiness. Of course it is no guarantee. The audacity of hope? Yes, we can still hope.

I hope that the guys who celebrated being together in Senegal have some peace. But apparently the full wrath of the law will descend on their poor heads. Because they love, they are condemned.

My, our love is precious. We shall celebrate it as we can, day to day, in the rising of the sun, and its beautiful setting. I have one life, and in it, I have been blessed with love.

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