One of the African country’s largest Islamic groups has issued statements over the past week describing gays as “vicious” and “perverts” and accuses them of spreading HIV/AIDS.

This homophobic frenzy follows the release of nine men who had been arrested on charges of homophosexuality.

Senegal is one of 38 countries in Africa that criminalize homosexual acts.

An appeals court in the capital of Dakar overturned jail sentences last week for the nine after they had been convicted by a lower court and sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of  ”indecent and unnatural acts” and “forming associations of criminals.”

All nine were involved in HIV-prevention work, their lawyer said.

The arrests came just weeks after Senegal hosted an international AIDS conference that included gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants.

Amnesty International called on the government to protect the nine, and other gay men in the country.

“These statements amount to advocacy of hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,” said Veronique Aubert, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Program.

Amnesty also called for an investigation into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment against the men while they were in custody, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

The organization has said it is concerned that confessions reported to have been extracted from the men under torture were accepted as evidence by the lower court during their trial.

Over the last two years, Senegal has seen an increase in homophobic attacks, arbitrary arrests and increased hostility towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, same-sex practicing and transgender people Amnesty said. 

“The Senegalese authorities must repeal the law criminalizing consensual sexual conduct between people of the same sex, and provide immediate protection for those who may be subject to discrimination or attack on the basis of actual or perceived sexual conduct,” said Aubert.

They were sentenced in January to eight years in prison on charges of “indecent and unnatural acts” and “forming associations of criminals.”

All nine were involved in HIV-prevention work, their lawyer said.

The arrests came just weeks after Senegal hosted an international AIDS conference that included gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants.

Senegal, a primarily Muslim nation in West Africa, is one of 38 countries on the continent that criminalize homosexual acts. South Africa prompted continent-wide controversy in 2006 when it became the first African country to legalize gay marriage.

At the trial of the nine, the prosecution argued that the AIDS organization they were associated with was a front recruiting men into homosexuality.

Police officers burst into the private residence of an HIV outreach worker where the nine were allegedly holding a meeting. Police confiscated condoms and lubricants – tools used for HIV-prevention work.

The police allegedly forced several of the men to disclose family members’ phone numbers and threatened to inform their families. Sources told Human Rights Watch that the men were beaten in detention.

In appealing the sentence – the harshest ever to be handed down in Senegal for a homosexuality conviction – the men’s attorney argued that accusations against them were based on anonymous tip-offs.

The court was told that the men were engaged in a meeting -  not sex, as the prosecution had claimed during the trial.

The prosecution did not contest the defense’s arguments.

In overturning the ruling, the court ordered the immediate release of the men.

All nine were involved in HIV-prevention work, the group said.

They were sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of “indecent and unnatural acts” and “forming associations of criminals.”

“These charges will have a chilling effect on AIDS programs,” said Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT program. “Outreach workers and people seeking HIV prevention or treatment should not have to worry about police persecution. Senegal should drop these charges and repeal its sodomy law.”

HIV and AIDS advocates in Senegal report that the ruling has produced widespread panic among organizations addressing HIV and AIDS, particularly those working with men who have sex with men and other marginalized populations.

Human Rights Watch has called for the immediate release of the nine. Long said that they apparently were arrested merely on suspicion of engaging in homosexual conduct.

The organization also said that as long as they remain detained – given the general climate of hostility against men perceived to engage in homosexual conduct and the risk of violence against them – Senegalese authorities should ensure their safety by separating them from other prisoners if necessary.

“The authorities must also ensure that the men receive any necessary medical care, including antiretroviral therapy,” HRW said in a statement.

The men were detained on Dec. 19, 2008, after several police officers burst into the private residence of an HIV outreach worker. Police confiscated condoms and lubricants – tools used for HIV-prevention work.

The police allegedly forced several of the men to disclose family members’ phone numbers and threatened to inform their families. Sources told Human Rights Watch that the men were beaten in detention.

“Senegal’s sodomy law invades privacy, criminalizes health work, justifies brutality, and feeds fear,” said Long. “This case shows why it is time for the sodomy law to go.”

Long said that the men’s arrest and  detention violates article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to liberty and security of person and rights against arbitrary detention. Senegal ratified the covenant in 1978 without reservations.

The men were arrested only days after Senegal served as the host for the 15th International Conference on AIDS.

Senegal, a primarily Muslim nation in West Africa, is one of 38 countries on the continent that criminalize homosexual acts.

Diadji Diouf, who heads an organization that provides HIV prevention services to gay men in Senegal, and the others were arrested Dec. 19 in a raid on Diouf’s apartment.

The men were sentenced Wednesday for unnatural acts and criminal conspiracy, said Joel Nana, Africa research and policy coordinator with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Cape Town, South Africa.

“This is the first case that we’ve heard of in Senegal where people actually got sentenced,” Nana said. He called the sentences long and harsh.

Diouf’s organization, AIDES Senegal, provides condoms and HIV treatment out of his home.

The arrests came just weeks after Senegal hosted an international AIDS conference that included gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants.

“It is a strong message of hatred, a strong message of division when we know it is critical at this point to address HIV in these communities,” Nana said.

Senegal, a primarily Muslim nation in West Africa, is one of 38 countries on the continent that criminalize homosexual acts, Nana said. South Africa prompted continentwide controversy in 2006 when it became the first African country to legalize gay marriage.

Richard Lambot, 61, a Belgian citizen who was living in Senegal, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, a Senegalese were convicted of “gross indecency and marriage against nature” their lawyer told a British-based African publication this week.

Attorney Seyni Ndione told IC Publications that neither man is gay and that Gueye was Lambot’s “domestic helper.”

According to Ndione, Lambot had married Gueye only to help him relocate to Belgium so he could continue working for Lambot.

The men were detained by authorities when they stepped off a plane from Belgium and the marriage license was discovered in their luggage.  They had returned to the country to begin preparations to move back to Lambot’s homeland.

“This marriage was only intended to help Mr. Gueye,” Ndione said.

But police claim a subsequent search of Lambot’s home in Dakar, the capital, turned up “evidence of homosexuality.”

Predominantly Muslim, Senegal is one of the few Francophone African countries that penalize homosexuality. Gay sexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of up to $3,000. 

In February five men were arrested on charges of homosexuality after pictures purportedly of a gay wedding appeared in a popular Senegal gossip magazine.

Following an international outcry the five were released. But the dropping of charges outraged Muslims.

Several hundred people gathered outside Dakar’s main mosque despite the refusal by police to issue a permit for the protest.

Garbage bins were set on fire as organizers in front of the Grande Mosquee de Dakar demanded that all homosexuals in the country be rounded up and jailed.

When police ordered the protestors to disband some in the crowd began throwing stones.  Police fired teargas into the crowd to quell the riot.