Senegal doubles maximum penalty for same-sex activity to 10 years’ jail

The law – passed by 135 ‌votes to zero, with three abstentions – fulfils a campaign promise of the government that came to power in 2024, led ​by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. It now awaits Faye’s signature. Senegal’s penal code already carried an article, last amended in 1966, imposing up to five years’ jail and fines of up to 1,500,000 CFA francs ($2,700) for “acts against nature”.

The new version doubles the maximum term and allows ‌for fines of up to 10 ⁠million CFA francs. It says a judge may not grant a suspended sentence, or use their discretion to reduce a prison term ⁠below the minimum. It specifies that acts against nature relate to homosexuality, bisexuality, “transsexuality”, zoophilia and necrophilia.

Imam Babacar Sylla, leader of And Samm Jikko ​Yi, a ​network of Islamic and civil society organizations, urged Faye ​to sign the bill into law ‌as soon as possible. “The longer it takes, the more complicated it will be. And these people, whom I consider a public danger, will continue to escape,” he said.

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In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s vote, supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from the ruling Pastef party, organised demonstrations in Dakar in which participants shouted “No to homosexuality!” and held signs with rainbows crossed out. The period has ‌also been marked by a surge in arrests of men ​on suspicion of “acts against nature” as well as, in ​some cases, “voluntary transmission” of HIV – a crime ​carrying up to 10 years in prison.

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