Gambia Anti Gay Bill is a Serious Human Rights Setback

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Age, sex and variety/ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and also intersex (LGBTI)

The Court took into consideration that criminalisation of homosexual acts was not sufficient to render return as opposed to the Convention.gambia gay news The Court discovered, nevertheless, that the Swiss authorities had stopped working to properly examine the threat of ill-treatment for the initial applicant as a homosexual person in the Gambia and also the schedule of State defense versus ill-treatment from non-State stars. Numerous independent authorities noted that the Gambian authorities hesitated to provide defense for LGBTI individuals.

17 November 2022|Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Civil Rights|Record type: Case Legislation|Legal Instrument: 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)|Subject( s): Expulsion – Flexibility from torture, inhuman as well as degrading therapy – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)|Nations: Gambia – Switzerland

22 February 2022|Author: Amnesty International|Record kind: Yearly Reports

18 January 2022|Author: Human Rights See|Record type: Annual Records

December 2022|Author: European Union: European Asylum Support Office (EASO)|File kind: Nation Records

3 March 2022|Author: United States Division of State|File kind: Yearly Reports

March 2022|Author: European Council on Refugees and also Exiles|Paper type: Legal Articles/Analyses/Commentaries

12 January 2022|Publisher: Human Rights See|File type: Annual Reports

May 2022|Publisher: International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans as well as Intersex Organization (ILGA)|Document kind: Annual Records

Human rights court criticises Switzerland over gay Gambian

The European Court of Civil rights has ruled against Switzerland’s designated deportation of a homosexual Gambian man, stating Switzerland has not properly taken a look at the risks to which the man would be subjected.

In a decision passed on on Tuesday, the court unanimously made a decision that this would certainly breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlaws merciless and degrading therapy.

The Swiss Federal Court had considered in 2022 that the guy’s family members network would be enough to safeguard him from damaging therapy which the circumstance of homosexuals in Gambia had actually boosted. The European judges disagreed. They stated Switzerland should have ensured that neighborhood authorities there were “prepared and also able” to secure the man versus possible mistreatment by non-state stars.

The European court decision relaxes significantly on viewpoints of the British home office and also third parties saying Gambian authorities presently decline to approve protection to LGBT individuals.

The choice might be appealed if one of the events makes a decision to do so within 3 months.

The Gambian man concerned Switzerland in 2008, aged 34 at the time. His asylum request was rejected since Swiss authorities did not locate reputable his claims that he had been abused in his nation. He ultimately got several sentences for remaining in Switzerland unlawfully and for extorsion. In 2014 he participated in a civil partnership with a 66-year-old Swiss man, that asked for family get-together legal rights for his partner before passing away in 2022.

Nonetheless, a court in St. Gallen ruled against this request, saying that provided the Gambian’s judicial track record, the public interest of deporting him warranted offense of his legal rights. This decision was maintained by the Federal Court.

Switzerland encounters a distinct barrier when it involves preventing the pension plan system from falling down with time.

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The head of state of Gambia has actually signed an expense right into legislation that asks for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, the current African country to codify harsh penalties for gay individuals.

A duplicate of the regulation, obtained by the Associated Press on Friday, indicates that President Yahya Jammeh authorized it on 9 October, though no government authorities have publicly notified the nation of the legislation.

gambia gay news

Jammeh, one of Africa’s a lot of outspoken anti-gay leaders, advised gay and also lesbian individuals in 2008 to leave the nation or danger decapitation.

Politicians accepted the regulation in August, prompting an outcry from civils rights organisations consisting of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The legislation has language similar to an anti-gay costs signed right into law in Uganda previously this year however later on reversed by a court on step-by-step grounds.

The Gambian regulation criminalises “worsened homosexuality”, and also targets “serial wrongdoers” as well as people living with HIV or Aids. Suspects can be charged with aggravated homosexuality for participating in homosexual show somebody who is under 18, disabled or who has actually been drugged. The term likewise applies when the suspect is the parent or guardian of the various other person, or is “in authority over” him or her.

Individuals condemned of worsened homosexuality can be sentenced to life in prison.

Amnesty International just recently reported that Gambian security forces were allegedly torturing people arrested in raids, intimidating them with rape as well as pressing them to confess to homosexual acts.

The arrests were the first under the law, Amnesty claimed on Thursday. At the very least four men, a 17-year-old kid and also 9 females had actually reportedly been detained in current weeks on suspicion of devoting homosexual acts, the group included.

An earlier declaration described how the suspects were apprehended at the head office of the National Intelligence Firm in Banjul. “They were subjected to torment and also ill-treatment to compel them to admit their supposed ‘crimes’ as well as to expose information regarding other individuals regarded to be gay or lesbian.”

Amnesty charged the safety forces of turning to whippings and also the threat of rape as well as other abuses if they did not confess.

Gambia rejects Western objection of anti-gay legislation

DAKAR, Senegal (AP)– The Gambian federal government has lashed out at Western donor countries that have actually criticized a brand-new law that punishes some homosexual acts with life behind bars.

The European Union as well as the USA lately revealed discouragement at the legislation and discrimination versus gay individuals in the West African nation. Both give help to impoverished Gambia and have utilized that setting to urge respect for civils rights.

The Gambian federal government will certainly not enable acceptance of gay individuals to be a pre-condition for receiving help “regardless of how much aid is entailed,” Foreign Priest Bala Garba Jahumpa said in a country wide aired dealt with late Saturday.

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” We are no more going to delight any discussion on the issue with the European Union or any type of various other foreign power,” he claimed.

The brand-new regulation, which entered into impact Oct. 9, criminalizes “worsened homosexuality,” which targets “serial wrongdoers” as well as people dealing with HIV or help. Suspects can additionally be charged with worsened homosexuality for participating in homosexual show a person that is under 18, disabled or that has actually been drugged. The term likewise uses when the suspect is the parent or guardian of the various other individual or is “responsible over” him or her. The law consists of language the same to an anti-gay costs authorized into law in Uganda this year that was later reversed by a court.

Individuals condemned of intensified homosexuality in Gambia can be punished to life behind bars.

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In the Gambia, two international human rights teams are advising Head of state Yahya Jammeh to reject an amendment to the criminal code relating to “exacerbated homosexuality.” The change phones call to raise the punishment for the cost of “intensified homosexuality” to life behind bars.

Amnesty International as well as Civil rights Watch claimed “the measure would better contribute to the environment of anxiety for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex, (LGBTI) individuals in Gambia.”

” The National Assembly passed a criminal code modification on the 25th of August, which criminal code includes several provisions which are very problematic if you take a look at worldwide civils rights law,” says Francois Patuel, an advocate for Amnesty International based in Dakar, Senegal.

” The very first one– it contains a section on “worsened homosexuality” which can be made use of to target a section of the populace of the Gambia that’s currently being targeted and residing in concern because of their sexual orientation,” Patuel said. The language of the recommended regulation boosts their exposure to a sentence of life in prison, he stated.

Presently in the Gambia, consensual sex between same-sex grownups is a criminal activity with a sentence of approximately 14 years in prison if founded guilty.

He likewise mentions that the charge of “worsened homosexuality” is slightly worded and leaves the door open for numerous analyses of what is indicated by the term.

” Worsened homosexuality is defined where the wrongdoer is a serial wrongdoer. So, if you are a serial wrongdoer as an example, you might be convicted of worsened homosexuality. “But what does it indicate to be a serial transgressor?” Patuel asked.

Civils rights supporters are concerned due to the fact that the term could be used against people who have actually been billed with homosexuality in the past. The second time they are billed under the new modification, they could be facing a life sentence.

Another instance of the vagueness of the charge is that someone could be charged with “exacerbated homosexuality” if they are HIV-positive.

” Individuals that have contracted HIV, as well as are coping with HIV in the Gambia are already stigmatized, they are currently marginalized, as well as it does not aid to further stigmatize them in regulation,” stated the Amnesty International campaigner.

From a public wellness point of view, Patuel claimed if they are thought of being a homosexual and also dealing with a life sentence, such a charge could discourage people from seeking required medical assistance or screening,

” The unclear wording as well as the boosted sentence can indicate that life for homosexuals in Gambia, or life for people that are thought of being homosexual, would certainly be a lot worse,” said Patuel.

Gambian President says gay people are ‘vermin’ as well as should be dealt with like malaria-causing insects

Yahya Jammeh also said ‘LGBT can just mean Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Microorganisms and Consumption’ in a speech on Tuesday

The Gambia President has defined gay individuals as “vermin” and also alerted the Federal government will certainly tackle them in a comparable means to malaria-causing insects, as component of a renewed suppression on same-sex partnerships.

Yahya Jammeh made the hazards in a speech on state tv to note the 49th wedding anniversary of The Gambia’s freedom from Britain on Tuesday.

” We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are dealing with malaria-causing insects, if not even more aggressively,” Jammeh claimed.

” Regarding I am concerned, LGBT can just mean Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Microorganisms as well as Consumption; all of which are destructive to human presence,” he added.

His remarks come as Nigeria banned same-sex partnerships and also Uganda elected life imprisonment for some homosexual acts in recent months.

Britain and some other Western nations have intimidated to cut aid to governments that pass anti-gay legislations.

But Jammeh claimed his country would certainly safeguard its sovereignty and also Islamic ideas, as well as not yield to outside stress on lesbian, gay, bisexual as well as transgender (LGBT) issues.

” We will for that reason decline any friendship, aid or any other gesture that is conditional on accepting homosexuals or LGBT as they are now baptised by the powers that advertise them,” he claimed.

Jammeh, that took power in a 1994 stroke of genius, attracted solid international criticism after he executed a number of detainees in 2012.

In September 2013, he utilized his address to the United Nations General Setting up to assault gays and lesbians, calling homosexuality among the three “biggest risks to human presence.”

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Gambia’s Jammeh calls gays ‘vermin’, states to eliminate like mosquitoes

BANJUL (Reuters) – Gambia‘s Head of state Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday called homosexuals “vermin” and said his federal government would certainly tackle them in the same way it battles malaria-causing mosquitoes.

The most recent remarks from Jammeh, who in 2022 branded gays a hazard to mankind, accompany a renewed suppression on same-sex partnerships in Africa, where homosexuality is taboo and illegal in 37 countries.

In current months, Nigeria has disallowed same-sex relationships and also Uganda has elected life jail time for some homosexual acts.

” We will battle these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are combating malaria-causing insects, otherwise even more aggressively,” Jammeh claimed in a speech on state tv to mark the 49th wedding anniversary of Gambia’s freedom from Britain.

Britain and also some other Western countries have threatened to cut aid to governments that pass anti-gay regulations.

However Jammeh stated his country would protect its sovereignty and also Islamic ideas, and also not accept outside stress on lesbian, gay, bisexual and also transgender (LGBT) problems.

” We will for that reason not accept any friendship, help or any kind of other gesture that is conditional on approving homosexuals or LGBT as they are now baptised by the powers that promote them,” he claimed.

” As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only mean Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Microorganisms and Tuberculosis; all of which are harmful to human presence,” he added.

Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 stroke of genius, drew strong international criticism after he implemented a number of prisoners in 2012.

Regardless of issues over Gambia‘s bad human rights record, mediators stated the European Union might double help to the country over the next seven years.

( Coverage by Pap Saine; Composing by David Lewis; Modifying by Daniel Flynn and also Sonya Hepinstall)

All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 mins. See here for a complete list of exchanges and also delays.

Gays are ‘vermin’, states Gambian president

” LGBT can only represent leprosy, gonorrhoea, microorganisms as well as tuberculosis”: Gambia‘s President Yahya Jammeh claims the government will certainly deal with gay people in the same way it tackles insects.

In his most damning statement yet, Gambia‘s Head of state Yahya Jammeh set out a staunchly anti-gay schedule during an aired speech.

” We will certainly battle these vermins called homosexuals or gays similarly we are battling malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively,” he claimed.

In 2014 he said homosexuals were a threat to mankind as well as damage society, and also has previously vowed to behead homosexuals.

However on Tuesday, he went also further, saying he would certainly decline any kind of polite connections or methods of “relationship” from nations that attempted to affect his stance on the issue.

” We will therefore not accept any relationship, aid or any kind of various other motion that is conditional on accepting homosexuals or LGBT as they are currently baptised by the powers that promote them,” he stated.

” As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only represent leprosy, gonorrhoea, bacteria and consumption; all of which are harmful to human existence.”

We will certainly combat these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes President Yahya Jammeh

The Gambian head of state, who seized power in a 1994 coup, is understood for his hyperbolic remarks– he has actually previously declared he could cure Help– as well as drew solid global objection after he performed a number of prisoners in 2012.

Nevertheless his speech on Tuesday to note the 49th anniversary of Gambia’s self-reliance from Britain, is riding the wave of a renewed suppression on same-sex partnerships in Africa, where it is prohibited to be gay in 37 nations.

In current months, Nigeria has outlawed all same-sex connections while Uganda has elected life jail time for some homosexual acts.

Likewise on Tuesday, the Ugandan leader disregarded telephone calls from United States President Barack Obama not to sign an anti-homosexuality law, claiming that the US was using blackmail. Washington is a significant help contributor to the eastern African nation, sending greater than $400m a year, and an US authorities claimed that relationships would certainly be reviewed if the anti-gay regulation was passed.

united state condemns Gambia over loss, new anti-gay law

BANJULBANJUL (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s National Safety and security Council (NSC) has actually voiced worry over Gambia‘s relocate to obstruct access to leading United Nations human rights detectives and pass hard brand-new regulations versus homosexuality.

Gambia’s international priest last week promised to cut discussion with the European Union after the bloc, an essential donor to the West African nation, elevated comparable objections.

” We continue to be concerned about continuous records of forced disappearances and also approximate arrests, including of journalists, human rights supporters, and also civil slaves,” NSC Representative Bernadette Meehan claimed.

In the declaration, launched on Thursday and also keep reading Gambian state-owned radio and television, the NSC said it was also disappointed in the Gambian federal government’s failing to examine the disappearance of 2 united state citizens missing out on considering that June 2013.

Though the declaration did not call the missing Americans, it was obviously describing Alhaji Ceesay and Ebrima Jobe, 2 Gambian-born united state residents, who had taken a trip to the funding Banjul to consider opening up a computer system service.

During a browse through to Gambia last month, the U.N.’s investigators for unlawful murders and for torture listened to allegations of extrajudicial implementations of federal government opponents, journalists as well as activists and the widespread use of abuse.

Nevertheless, they said they were prevented from seeing parts of the main jail in Banjul regardless of earlier obtaining authorization. [ID: nL6N0SX4UM]

President Yahya Jammeh – a previous armed forces police officer who took power in a 1994 coup – authorized into regulation regulation in October that introduced the criminal activity of ‘intensified homosexuality’, making it punishable in many cases with life in prison.

The definition covers instances such as homosexual relationships with somebody under the age of 18, or a person with HIV having homosexual sex.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Civil Rights, has claimed Gambia’s new law violates basic human rights and has called for its abolition. Rights guard dog Amnesty International says greater than a loads people have already been arrested under the legislation.

The NSC criticised the legislation as well as stated it was worried by phone calls by senior authorities for the persecution of participants of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

All quotes postponed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a full checklist of exchanges as well as delays.

Gambia enhances anti-gay regulation

Gambia, currently not the friendliest country for gay males, just got worse.

gambia gay news

The nation has actually altered its criminal code to make the penalty for “worsened homosexuality” worse. Rather than 14 years behind bars for being caught having gay sex, the punishment is currently life in prison. Head of state Yahya Jammeh signed the bill today.

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Gambia‘s Head of state Jammeh asked to deny anti-gay regulation

President Jammeh has thirty day from the date the costs was passed to sign it into legislation or return it to parliament

Homosexual acts are currently illegal in The Gambia, however MPs passed a costs on 25 August enforcing life sentences for “exacerbated homosexuality”.

Mr Jammeh is known for his strong opposition to gay rights. He has actually called gay people “vermin” and once intimidated to behead them.

Uganda’s Constitutional Court overruled a comparable regulation last month because it was passed by MPs without a quorum.

Its ruling complied with an objection from rights groups and Western federal governments – US President Barack Obama explained the legislation as “pain in the neck”.

Amnesty International and also Civil Rights Watch (HRW) stated the interpretation of “intensified homosexuality” was vague in The Gambian bill.

Among those that could be given the life sentence were “repeat culprits” as well as individuals coping with HIV that are thought to be gay or lesbians, they said in a joint declaration.

An individual that had homosexual relations with a small could also be founded guilty of “intensified homosexuality”, Reuters news agency records.

” President Jammeh should not accept this greatly damaging act that breaks global civils rights regulation,” stated Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty’s replacement regional director for West and also Central Africa.

Graeme Reid of HRW said it would certainly “just stack additional stigma on individuals that are currently marginalised and living in an environment of deep anxiety and hate in Gambia“.

Under existing laws, homosexual acts are already culpable by up to 14 years in prison in The Gambia.

Mr Jammeh has 30 days from the date the bill was passed to sign it right into law or return it to parliament for more testimonial.

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A gay teenager got away The Gambia and also located sanctuary in Seattle, only to sink at a sailing lesson

Cruise Sand Point teachers told police that for the camp’s swim examination, children were informed to embark on the dock, one by one, right into water about 12 feet deep. Kebbeh leapt and sank, one teacher claimed, and also was underwater for 6 minutes.

The first staffer who dived in to discover Kebbeh didn’t have safety glasses. After he ran to get them, it took several dives from camp teachers and also an initial responder to find Kebbeh on the dirty lake bottom. By the time he was pulled out, his lungs contained particles and also water.

Gambia Passes Expense to Imprison Gays permanently

Life for LGBT males and females in the West African area of Gambia just got substantially more difficult, as lawmakers passed a piece of regulations Monday that would impose regards to life behind bars on individuals convicted of “intensified homosexuality.”

The costs specifies intensified homosexuality as “repeat culprits,” individuals with HIV/AIDS, and also circumstances in which one of the parties is under 18, disabled, drugged or an authority number over the other event, the Associated Press records.

The bill, which was gone by the National Assembly last month, modifies a criminal code that currently consisted of an extreme penalty– as much as 14 years behind bars– for homosexual acts, suitable to both males and females.

The costs now waits for the signature of tyrannical leader Yahya Jammeh, that came to power in a successful stroke in 1994 and also made headings in 2008 when he openly instructed gays to leave Gambia or face decapitation.

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Gambian President Yayah Jammeh endangers to ‘slit the throats’ of gay people

The head of state of Gambia has actually endangered to “slit the throats” of gay individuals residing in the nation, in a speech concerning the nation’s youth.

President Yahya Jammeh, who confiscated power in an armed forces stroke of genius in 1994, made the chilling hazard obviously in response to Western leaders who have actually criticised the nation’s regressive attitude to homosexuality.

The dictator made the remarks during an across the country agricultural excursion, the current in a long line of shockingly anti-gay remarks.

According to VICE Information, in a speech to townspeople in Farafeni, Jammeh stated: If you do it [in Gambia] I will slit your throat. If you are a man and want to wed one more male in this country and we catch you, nobody will certainly ever before establish eyes on you once again, as well as no white individual can do anything about it.”

In December last year, the European Union reduced numerous euros of funding to Gambia over the nation’s horrible human rights document.gambia gay news The generally Muslim country is currently primarily sustained by help from Middle Eastern countries.

In February 2014, Jammeh called gay people “vermins”, swearing to eliminate them “the same way we are fighting malaria-causing insects, otherwise more aggressively.”

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Gambia Passes Expense That Puts Gays behind bars forever for “Aggravated Homosexuality”

Gambia’s National Setting up passed a costs last month that imposes a life sentence behind bars for “homosexual acts,” the Associated Press reported Monday. The leader of the minority in federal government informed the AP the life time prison sentence is for “aggravated homosexuality,” which in the West African country targets “repeat wrongdoers and people dealing with HIV/AIDS.” Homosexuality was currently a criminal offense in Gambia punishable by 14 years behind bars.

“Gambia has formerly launched periodic suppressions on the country’s gays,” the AP records. “A 2012 raid at a poolside birthday celebration celebration in the resources, Banjul, brought about the arrests of 18 men, several of whom said they were interrogated and also beaten prior to undergoing a very public trial that ruined their track records.” The expense– which all but 2 of the Assembly’s legislators elected– currently precedes the country’s head of state, Yahya Jammeh, to be signed into legislation. Here’s what Jammeh– that came to power in a 1994 coup– claimed in February about homosexuals in Gambia:

Homosexuality will never be endured and actually will bring in the best penalty because it is planned to bring humankind to an inglorious extinction. We will combat these vermins called Homosexuals or gays the same way we are battling malaria-causing insects; otherwise more aggressively. We will certainly therefore not accept any type of relationship, help or any kind of other gesture that is conditional on approving Homosexuals or L.G.B.T. as they are currently baptised by the powers that promote them. Regarding I am concerned, L.G.B.T can only represent Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and also Tuberculosis; every one of which are harmful to human presence.

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2 Spanish men jailed for supposed gay criminal offenses in Gambia

Following on the heels of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s risk to “cut off the head” of any homosexual the federal government catches, cops in the West African nation jailed two Spanish males May 30 for allegedly propositioning 2 male taxi drivers.Reports said the chauffeurs invented passion in the come-ons as well as enticed the tourists to a rendezvous factor while surreptitiously speaking to police, who apprehended the males when they arrived at the bear-magazine.com guys were released after 5 days behind bars and also left Gambia, the Spanish Consular office said.Speaking on tv Might 15, Jammeh promised to establish anti-gay laws “more stringent than those in Iran” (which penalizes sodomy with the death penalty) as well as claimed homosexuals should leave Gambia bear-magazine.com called homosexuality wicked and also immoral, and said any hotel or accommodations tolerating the existence of a homosexual would certainly be shut down and also the landlord punished.Current law punishes gay sex with approximately 14 years in bear-magazine.com is a tiny country that runs inland from the Atlantic Sea entirely along the flooding level of the Gambia River. It is surrounded on three sides by Senegal. There are 1.7 million locals, of whom 90 percent are Muslim and also 40 percent are able to review.gambia gay news Gambians live, typically, to be 55 years of ages.

Gambia Condemns EU Pressure on Anti-gay Legislation

DATA – Gambia‘s Head of state Yahya Jammeh gets here for a summit in Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 27, 2014.

Gambia‘s foreign priest stated the West African country would cut all dialogue with the European Union and also rejected what he claimed were efforts by the bloc to use its help budget plan to force Gambia to revoke a hard new law versus homosexuality.

Foreign Minister Bala Garba Jahumpa said that President Yahya Jammeh – a previous army policeman that seized power in a 1994 successful stroke – would not allow international countries to make use of aid to impose policies on his federal government.

Jammeh signed regulations last month that introduced the criminal offense of ‘aggravated homosexuality’, making it culpable sometimes with life in prison. The interpretation covers cases such as homosexual connections with someone under the age of 18, or an individual with HIV having homosexual sex.

The crackdown comes as the European Union is because of decide in December whether to release 150 million euros ($ 186 million) well worth of development help to Gambia, a matter that has actually been up for debate because of its bad human rights document.

Gambia‘s government will not endure any negotiation on the concern of homosexuality with the EU or any kind of international block or country,” Jahumpa told state tv.

” We are no longer mosting likely to entertain any kind of dialog with the EU either straight or with sub-regional, local and worldwide blocks to which we are participants.”

Jahumpa claimed homosexuality was ‘shocking’ and also against African tradition, as well as stated Gambia would deal with other nations on the continent to oppose it.

Displeasure of homosexuality prevails across a lot of socially conservative sub-Saharan Africa.

Legislators in Uganda have said they will pass a revised anti-gay law by Xmas that will penalize gay sex with long jail terms, after an earlier variation was subdued due to legal technicalities.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Civil Rights, has actually said Gambia‘s brand-new regulation goes against basic human rights as well as has called for its repeal. Civil liberties watchdog Amnesty International says more than a loads individuals have actually already been arrested under the law.

In a warmed declaration, Jahumpa charged European federal governments of enabling thousands of African travelers to pass away trying to get to the bloc, calling it a ‘racist genocide’.

He claimed Gambia would not participate in the Economic Collaboration Agreement (EPA) to open up West African economies to open market with the European Union.

” The Gambia will certainly never ever be a party to the so called EconomicPartnership Arrangement with the European Union as it is developed to continue the exact same exploitation and impoverishment of the African continent,” he stated.

Gambia‘s newest anti-gay Bill

It was currently a crime to be gay in Gambia: grownups discovered to have had consensual same-sex partnerships confronted fourteen years behind bars, until October 2014 – currently it’s a lifetime.

A modification to the nation’s Wrongdoer Code strengthened existing legislations punishing people for the ‘criminal offense’ of homosexuality in Gambia and extended the criminal sentences for those condemned.

The Crook Code (Modification) Act 2014 presented the brand-new criminal offense of ‘intensified homosexuality’ for ‘serial wrongdoers’ as well as gay or lesbian individuals that live with HIV– which comes with the punishment of a life time in prison.

The Expense was passed by Gambia‘s parliament, the National Assembly, on 25 August. Gambia‘s head of state, Yahya Jammeh, made the Bill regulation on 9 October. He did not introduce this openly.

‘ They endangered to break in the doors. As they could not locate me, they also endangered to jail among my relatives. They lastly left your house assuring to eliminate me if ever before they captured me.’ A Gambian lady that recently left to Senegal to escape being punished for her sexuality

Considering That 7 November, state pressures have actually released a homosexuality investigation, causing at least eight arrests.

4 males plus one 17-year-old kid were apprehended by the National Intelligence Firm as well as Presidential Guards in Banjul, the resources city, under investigation for criminal activities of homosexuality. They are being kept in a secret area without accessibility to an attorney, and go to high risk of being hurt. By holding the guys in apprehension for more than 3 days without charging or launching them, state forces are damaging the legislation according to Gambia‘s constitution.

Three females were additionally jailed in Banjul on 13 November. They claimed they were defeated in apprehension and also threatened with rape by secrutiy forces. The ladies have actually currently been released, yet the authorities kept their identity cards as well as prohibited them from travelling.

All detainees, male as well as female, were told that if they did not ‘admit’ to the fees of homosexuality, a device would pushed into their rectum or vaginal canal to ‘test’ their sexual orientation.

State forces are reportedly accumulating a listing of names for future arrest.

gambia gay news

Other males and females managed to get away the pressures’ interrogation as good friends and also relatives gave them breakthrough caution that safety forces would be targeting them.

Over 30,000 individuals in the UK participated in our project to stop the Expense, by sending out an email to President Jammeh or sending a text to authorize our request. We handed a petition with every one of these signatures to Gambia‘s embassy in the UK. Sadly the Costs has actually considering that ended up being legislation.

We are continuing to keep track of the scenario and also support individuals whose rights are influenced as a result of the new biased regulations.

‘ We know what human rights are. Humans of the same sex can not wed or day.’ Head Of State Yahya Jammeh

Gambia‘s nationwide Wrongdoer Code, which penalizes anyone that determines as – or is accused of recognizing as– gay or lesbian breaks Gambia‘s own constitution, which claims that all individuals have to be equivalent as well as devoid of discrimination prior to the law. It additionally specifies that national regulations should not install or encourage discrimination.

The legislation additionally breaches global human rights requirements that Gambia declares to comply with, consisting of the African Charter on Human and Individuals’s Civil liberties.

The law comes at a time when the space for free speech in Gambia is quickly reducing. This is especially apparent in limitations on the media, where the government regulates what is published as well as broadcast.

Civils rights protectors, journalists as well as political lobbyists deal with harassment, scare tactics, approximate arrest and also detention, torture and enforced disappearance. President Jammeh has actually consistently criticised civils rights protectors for promoting and securing the civils rights of sex-related minorities.

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<em>Gambia</em> <b>Anti-Gay</b> <strong>Bill</strong> is a <strong>Serious</strong> Human Rights Setback