Senegal: dozens rounded up for homosexuality

A group of 24 men, among them two French nationals, face possible prosecution for homosexual offences.
The Senegalese police sanctioned investigation on the men after they were rounded up on Christmas eve, at Saly, a tourist resort town some 80Km away from Senegal’s capital city, Dakar. The men were arrested at a private residence, where they had gathered for an ”unauthorised” party. They were all released a day after their arrest pending investigation.
The two French nationals involved in the case were identified by police as “a physician and a resident therapist at the town who had been invited to this party,” according to AFP.
Report on local newspapers say that the police confiscated condoms and lubricants, as well as makeup form the house.
In Senegal, the law considers homosexuality a crime punishable by up to five years imprisonment. As a majority Muslim country, with an intolerably uncompromising attitude towards same sex practice, gays and lesbians are forced to go underground.
The country’s Foreign Affairs Minister recently brushed aside calls by several rights and advocacy organizations for “the full decriminalization of homosexuality” in the country, pointing to the country’s predominant religious beliefs and sociological set up.
Nearly a year ago, nine men were given an eight year sentence here for ‘indecent act against nature and criminal association” after being arrested in a similar manner. However, last April, the Court of Appeal quashed that ruling and ordered the release of the men.