Senegal issues first conviction under tougher homosexuality law

Senegal has issued the first conviction under a new law increasing the punishment for homosexuality.

A court in Dakar suburb Pikine-Guédiawaye sentenced a 24-year-old labourer on Friday (10 April) to six years in prison and fined him 2 million CFA ($3,300) for “acts against nature and public indecency.”

He was arrested earlier this month.

Senegal is the latest African country to impose harsher penalties against the LGBTQ+ community.

On 31 March, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed into law a new legislation doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, from five to 10 years in prison.

The text also includes criminal penalties for those found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.

The National Assembly had previously passed the law by an overwhelming majority.

UN rights chief Volker Türk called the law "deeply worrying" and said that it "flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights."

Human Rights Watch researcher Larissa Kojoué told The Associated Press on Monday that the law has created a climate of “constant fear."

Kojoué said arrests have become more aggressive “because now there is backing from the state apparatus.”

Local media have reported dozens of arrests related to the country's anti-LGBTQ+ laws since February.