Homosexualité au Sénégal : l’éditorial de feu du journal Le Monde
The increased penalties for homosexuality recently passed by the National Assembly have not been well received by the newspaper Le Monde. At least, that's the impression one gets from reading the editorial published in the Saturday edition of the French daily. "…Senegal has been making headlines for some time now for a less enviable reason: the exploitation of anti-homosexual prejudices by the current government," argues the newspaper, which also recalls the country's peaceful and democratic tradition.
According to the newspaper, the problem isn't limited to the passing of the law; there are also the numerous arrests noted in recent weeks. "This vote was preceded by a nauseating media campaign targeting public figures accused of knowingly transmitting HIV. Even before the law came into effect on March 30, around a hundred 'suspects' were arrested and 80 detained."
The newspaper laments a climate of denunciation, phone searches, and "confessions" from people in detention. According to Le Monde, the situation is so tense "that it intimidates even lawyers, who hesitate to defend those accused." It cites the example of a defendant sentenced to six years in prison who appeared in court without legal representation.
The newspaper directly implicates the current regime. According to the paper, the politicization of the rejection of homosexuality is not a recent phenomenon in Senegal, nor in other countries. "But the climate has clearly deteriorated since the arrival in power, in 2024, of the left-wing sovereignist government of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Fall, who used the 'criminalization of homosexuality' as a campaign issue."
The newspaper accuses those in power of using the fight against homosexuality, with the help of "Muslim religious leaders," to mask the "economic stagnation" and the failure to keep promises. "This odious exploitation of homophobia is at work in a large majority of African countries and must be firmly condemned," the newspaper asserts, citing Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Cameroon.
According to the newspaper, some African leaders employ a "decolonial rhetoric directed against Western imperialism" that is out of touch with reality. The newspaper refutes the idea of homosexuality as an import from the West, which, it argues, "clearly does not withstand scrutiny of the realities of African societies, nor of history, which documents the existence of sexual diversity before colonization."
Regarding the laws against "unnatural acts," Le Monde acknowledges that they date back to the colonial regime. But, moreover, they satisfy "Russia" and "ultraconservative American organizations."
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