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 EU Rebukes Nigeria Over Anti-Gay Legislation
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 20, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Brussels) The European Parliament is calling on
Nigeria to abandon legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil
rights.
The bill started out as a ban on same-sex
marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to
be in the same venue at the same time.
It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups
from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex
couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex
love in a letter to one's partner.
The legislation goes so far as to make it a
criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to
meet with any group of gays for any purpose.
The penalty would be five years in prison with
hard labor.
Gay sex already is illegal in Nigeria with
sentences up to 14 years behind bars. In the mostly Islamic north homosexuality
can be punishable by death.
Last year it became a crime for same-sex Nigerian
couples to travel abroad to marry.
The legislation has been denounced by civil
rights groups around the world and Nigeria's sole LGBT rights group has warned
that if the bill is passed it could lead to a gay genocide.
European parliamentarians proposed a number of
draft resolutions condemning the legislation. In the end Parliament opted
for the weakest, adding several other concerns.
It says "in its current form, since it
contains infringements of the basic human rights of freedom of expression and
opinion, in particular when it envisages a five-year prison sentence for anyone
involved publicly or privately in positive representation of or advocacy for
same sex relationships".
The motion also calls for an end to the death
penalty in Nigeria and for free elections.
The EP argues that past state and national
elections in 1999 and 2003 "could not be considered as free and fair due to
widespread fraud and violence".
“We
welcome the European Parliament’s stance on human rights violations in Nigeria,"
said Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of the International Lesbian and
Gay Association, Europe.
"At the same time we believe a more targeted resolution on the specific
situation of LGBT human rights defenders would have sent a stronger message to Nigeria.
"We fear that the current outrageous bill outlawing any activities representing
and protecting the human rights of LGBT people in Nigeria
is not prominently dealt with by the Parliament and this issue might loose its
momentum by being shelved together with other ongoing human rights concerns in Nigeria.”
The new bill has the support of Nigeria's
Anglican Church, and its leader Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the
forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative
Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.
Impetus for the legislation followed the
legalization of same-sex marriage in South Africa.
Last year Zimbabwe passed the "sexual
deviancy" law making it a criminal offense for two people of the same sex
to hold hands, hug, or kiss.
©365Gay.com 2007
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