Mauritania: eight men sentenced to 2 years in prison for homosexuality

Mauritanian justice has sentenced eight men to two years in prison for "unethical acts" after the broadcast of a video showing them participating in a party initially presented as a gay marriage, we learned on Monday 10 February to their lawyer and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

A video that went viral in Mauritania and neighboring countries in mid-January featured a party at a restaurant in Nouakchott as the first "gay marriage" in this Islamic republic in northwest Africa to ban gay behavior. Ten people accused of taking part were arrested a week later, then charged with "unethical acts", "commission of acts prohibited by Allah" and "publication of a debauchery ceremony".

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It was in fact the "celebration of the birthday of a homosexual to which he had invited only his fellows" , according to the police. Eight men who participated in the party "received two years in prison" after their trial, which took place in total discretion before the Nouakchott Criminal Court on January 30, AFP said on Monday their lawyer, Mohamed Ould Obeid.

Death penalty for "unnatural acts"

A woman present at the birthday was sentenced to a year in prison and the restaurant owner was acquitted, the lawyer added, adding that he had appealed on behalf of his clients, who had pleaded not guilty. "Mauritanian authorities do not have to send an individual behind bars because he attended a peaceful birthday party , " Human Rights Watch director LGBT division Graeme Reid said in a statement received on Monday. , demanding the "immediate release" of the eight convicts.

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The Sharia-based Mauritanian penal code prohibits homosexual behavior between adult Muslims, described as "unnatural acts" , and provides for sanctions up to the death penalty if two men are involved. "But no one has been sentenced to death in recent years for homosexuality, to the knowledge of Human Rights Watch," said the NGO.

Mauritanian society tolerates gay or lesbian people in certain circumstances, such as weddings or traditional celebrations, but they are mostly mocked by opinion and are very discreet. More than half of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa - 28 out of 49 - have laws prohibiting or punishing homosexuality, sometimes punished with the death penalty.

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