In Gambia, Being LGBT Now Means Torture, Life in Jail

The west African nation has been cracking down on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people — and will now throw away the key for those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality."

Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, infamous for his frequent violent antigay public statements, has signed a law that calls for lifelong prison sentences for acts of "aggravated homosexuality," reports the Associated Press.

The Gambian Parliament passed the legislation — which is nearly identical to Uganda's infamous "Jail the Gays" law — in September, prompting a marked increase in detentions, arrests, and torture of those suspected to be LGBT, according to Amnesty International.

The AP reports that Gambian authorities have arrested five men, a 17-year-old boy, and three women, subjecting them to torture and demanding they reveal the names of others "guilty" of homosexuality. Jammeh said in May that if LGBT Gambians tried to leave the country and report human rights abuses, "if I catch them I will kill them."

With language suspiciously similar to a law that was in force in Uganda until it was overturned by a constitutional court in August, Gambia's new law defines "aggravated homosexuality" as acts committed by "serial offenders" and people living with HIV or AIDS, as well as someone who has sex with a minor or a disabled person— or someone under the influence of drugs. The law also equates pedophilia with homosexuality, prescribing lifelong prison terms for parents or guardians who have sex with same-sex dependents.

http://www.advocate.com/world/2014/11/21/gambia-being-lgbt-now-means-torture-life-jail