Senegal’s president Bassirou Diomaye Faye has signed into law new legislation that double the prison time for people suspected of being homosexual. Those convicted now face up to ten years in prison.
Also included in the new legislation are laws that criminalise the promotion of LGBTIQA+ information. The offence carries a prison term of three to seven years for anyone who publicly advocates for, promotes, or defends LGBTQ+ rights.
The President’s support for the laws was not unexpected given his close alliance with the government of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. The President is seen as a protege of the Prime Minister and they both campaigned for office on an anti-LGBT platform. Parliament passed the legislation last month.
UN rights chief Volker Türk has described it as “deeply worrying”, saying that the anti-LGBT legislation “flies in the face of sacrosanct human rights”.
While UNAIDS said it was “deeply concerned” and warned that criminalisation “causes people to turn away from health services”.
Local politicians however have dismissed international condemnation saying it was the will of the people. In the lead up to the news being brought in there was a wave of arrests of local people suspected of being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
