Senegalese president signs bill that further criminalizes homosexuality

Senegalese lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would further criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relationships in the country.

Associated Press memo The bill, introduced by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko in February, would increase the penalty for those convicted of consensual same-sex sexual relations from one to five years in prison to five to 10 years. The Associated Press also suggested that the bill would ban the “promotion” or “funding” of homosexuality in the country.

The bill passed with almost unanimous support. Only three of the 135 members abstained.

President Basil Diomai Faye is expected to sign the bill.

In 2021, parliament rejected a bill that would have further criminalized homosexuality in Senegal.

Last month, Senegalese police arrested more than a dozen men and charged them with “unnatural acts.”

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called the bill “deeply worrying.”

“This violates the sacred human rights we all enjoy: respect, dignity, privacy, equality and freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” he said.

Mr. Turk also urged Mr. Fey not to sign the bill.

“I urge the president not to sign this harmful law into force and call on the authorities to repeal the current discriminatory law and protect the human rights of all Senegalese without discrimination,” Turk said.