Senegal’s parliament has approved a bill that would toughen punishments for homosexual acts, a move that critics say further criminalizes LGBTQ people in a country where same-sex acts are already illegal. Under the measure, prison terms would increase from the current range of 1 to 5 years to 5 to 10 years for people convicted of homosexual acts, and the bill also provides for higher fines and additional restrictions aimed at groups that support sexual and gender minorities.
The bill was introduced to parliament last month by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. In the legislation’s description of the conduct it targets, it characterizes homosexual acts as being “against nature.” It also sets out new penalties related to what the bill calls the “promotion” or “financing” of homosexuality, which proponents say is aimed at organizations that support sexual and gender minorities.
During Wednesday’s plenary session, nearly all lawmakers voted in favor, with no opposition and three abstentions. The bill still requires presidential assent before becoming law. Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is widely expected to sign the legislation.
The proposed law increases the maximum fine for the offense to 10 million CFA ($17,609). It keeps the offense classified as a misdemeanor rather than a crime, and during the parliamentary session, ministers argued that Senegal’s earlier 1966 law was too lenient.
In addition to the prison terms and fines, the bill places homosexual acts alongside “acts against nature” offenses such as necrophilia and bestiality. The measure also punishes anyone who accuses a person of homosexual acts “without proof,” according to the bill’s description.
The bill drew opposition from international rights monitors. U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urged the Senegalese president not to assent the law, saying it “flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights we all enjoy: the rights to respect, dignity, privacy, equality and freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” according to a statement by Türk.
Senegal is among more than 30 of the 54 countries in Africa that criminalize same-sex sexual acts, and the Associated Press report placed its new penalty approach alongside countries including Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, where penalties can include 10 or more years of imprisonment. The report also cited that in Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania, the offense can carry the death penalty.
Local developments described in the report included rallies in support of the new legal measure, organized in recent weeks by groups promoting Islamic values. It also said police have cracked down on alleged gay people and arrested at least a dozen people.
The proposal fulfills a campaign promise by Sonko, the report said. It also noted that Sonko had tried, but failed, to introduce the measure when he was in the opposition.