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 President Yahya Jammeh's reported
threats to expel or kill lesbian and
gay people not only encourage
hatred, but also contribute to a
climate in which basic rights can be
assaulted with impunity, Human
Rights Watch said today in a letter
to the president.
Human Rights Watch called on Jammeh
to completely disavow all such
statements, and to work toward
repealing the country's colonial-era
sodomy law, which allows arbitrary
and discriminatory arrests and
invasion of privacy.Jammeh is
reported to have given gays and
lesbians 24 hours to leave the
country while speaking in the town
of Tallinding on May 15, 2008,
during a presidential "Dialogue with
the People" tour. According to the
Gambian newspaper, The Daily
Observer, Jammeh was quoted as
saying, "We are in a Muslim
dominated country and I will not and
shall never accept such individuals
[homosexuals] in this country."
During the speech he also vowed to
"cut off the head" of any homosexual
caught. The government has since
denied that Jammeh called for
decapitating homosexuals, without
addressing his other reported
threats. "Neither
religion nor culture can justify
calls to mob violence and murder,"
said Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher
with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Rights Program at Human
Rights Watch. "To encourage attacks
on a country's population abdicates
a leader's most essential
responsibility: ensuring respect for
the rights of all."
Other
prominent Gambians have echoed
Jammeh's statements. On May 29,
Alhaji Banding Drammeh, president of
the Islamic Council of Gambia, told
the Associated Press news service:
"We thank President Jammeh for
leading the battle against
homosexuality in Africa. Our culture
and religion are totally
incompatible with this phenomenon."
Activists in
the region told Human Rights Watch
that following these statements at
least three Gambian men were
detained because police suspected
them of homosexual conduct. The
Associated Press also reported the
arrest on June 2 of two Spanish men
for allegedly "making homosexual
proposals" to a taxi driver.
"The president
must unequivocally disavow the
threat of arrests and violence, and
work to change the law so that
rights are respected," said Cano
Nieto.
Article 144 of
Gambia's 1965 Criminal Code
criminalizes homosexual conduct as
an "unnatural offence" and provides
for a prison sentence of up to 14
years. This is contrary to Gambia's
international human rights
commitments.
Gambia
ratified the African Charter on
Human and People's Rights in June
1999. It acceded to the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1979.
Both protect the right to equality
and non-discrimination.
The United
Nations Human Rights Committee,
which interprets the ICCPR and
evaluates how states implement it,
held in its 1994 case of Toonen v.
Australia that sexual orientation is
a status protected against
discrimination under the treaty's
provisions. The committee has
repeatedly called on different
African countries, such as Kenya,
Sudan, and Egypt, to repeal laws
that criminalize homosexual conduct.
In 2002, the UN committee said Egypt
"should refrain from penalizing
private sexual relations between
consenting adults." In 2005 it
called on Kenya to "repeal Section
162 of the Penal Code," which
criminalizes homosexuality.
In a 2003
report, "More Than a Name:
State-Sponsored Homophobia and Its
Consequences in Southern
Africa,"Human Rights Watch and the
International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission documented how
politically motivated expressions of
prejudice by leaders in Namibia,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe had led to both
violence and impunity, and put basic
rights to privacy, expression, and
association in increased danger.
Human Rights Watch
(Washington, DC)
PRESS
RELEASE
10 June 2008
Posted to the web 11 June 2008
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