The court of appeal in Senegal has freed nine gay men imprisoned in January 2009 for “acts against nature and the creation of a criminal organisation.”
An international outcry followed the convictions of the men, who were members of an HIV prevention organisation. They were arrested at the home of an HIV outreach worker near the Senegalese capital Dakar in December 2008. Condoms and lubricant were confiscated by the police as evidence of “improper and unnatural acts.” The seized condoms and lubricant were produced as evidence in court of homosexual activity, and on conviction, all five men received the maximum five year prison sentence. An additional three years was added to the sentence for membership of a criminal organisation.
The arrests came just days after Senegal hosted the 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA). The conference had been told that laws criminalising sex between men were hampering HIV prevention work in a number of African countries. Research presented to the International AIDS Conference in 2008 showed that the HIV prevalence rate amongst men who have sex with men is consistently higher than that in the overall population in countries with generalised HIV epidemics.
UNAIDS, the European Union and human rights organisations expressed their outrage at the convictions and lobbied for the release of the men.
Homosexuality is illegal and highly stigmatised in Senegal. UNAIDS has called on all governments to “to take steps to eliminate stigma and discrimination faced by men who have sex with men”. Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS said: “Homophobia and criminalisation of a person’s sexual orientation is fuelling the AIDS epidemic. I welcome today’s decision by the court of appeal to release these men. We urge Senegal to take steps to remove such laws that block the AIDS response.”