DAKAR, March 12 (Reuters) – Senegal’s National Assembly late on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalising any efforts to promote homosexuality.
The law – passed by 135 votes to zero, with three abstentions – fulfils a campaign promise of the government that came to power in 2024, led by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. It now awaits Faye’s signature.
Senegal’s penal code already carried an article, last amended in 1966, imposing up to five years’ jail and fines of up to 1,500,000 CFA francs ($2,700) for “acts against nature”.
The new version doubles the maximum term and allows for fines of up to 10 million CFA francs.
ANTI-LGBT LAWS TIGHTENED ACROSS WEST AFRICA
It says a judge may not grant a suspended sentence, or use their discretion to reduce a prison term below the minimum.
It specifies that acts against nature relate to homosexuality, bisexuality, “transsexuality”, zoophilia and necrophilia.
Those found guilty of promoting or financing such acts also face prison time.
Imam Babacar Sylla, 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,” he said.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s vote, supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from the ruling Pastef party, organised demonstrations in Dakar in which participants shouted “No to homosexuality!” and held signs with rainbows crossed out.
The period has also been marked by a surge in arrests of men on suspicion of “acts against nature” as well as, in some cases, “voluntary transmission” of HIV – a crime carrying up to 10 years in prison.
Some 27 men were arrested between February 9 and 24, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
Last year, Burkina Faso passed a law criminalizing same-sex sexual relations for the first time, imposing prison terms of up to five years.
Lawmakers in Ghana are considering raising the maximum penalty for same-sex sexual acts from three years to five and imposing jail time for the “wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities”.
($1 = 560.5000 CFA francs)
(Reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Diadie Ba and Ngouda Dione; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
