VZCZCXRO1443
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0187/01 0501526
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191526Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0041
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM PHUM SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: CONTROVERSY OVER GAY MARRIAGE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On February 1, a small-circulation magazine 
called "ICONE" published pictures of a 2006 homosexual marriage 
uniting a Senegalese male and a Ghanaian male.  As a result, the 
National Police detained and interrogated five homosexuals 
identified in the pictures and subsequently released them after four 
days in custody without being charged.  In reaction to this release, 
two Islamist organizations have launched an anti-gay campaign to 
criticize what they perceive to be Senegal's overly permissive 
society and the attempt by proponents of western modernity to 
undermine Islamic mores.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Police arrest homosexuals 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Mansour Dieng, editor of "Icone" magazine, said that he 
had published the pictures of the gay marriage to alert authorities 
of the spread of homosexuality in Senegal.  Police arrested a 
homosexual named Pape Mbaye and four other homosexuals formally 
identified on the pictures.  A Ghanaian homosexual named Jonas has 
allegedly fled to avoid being arrested.  Though all those who were 
detained have been released, there is no indication that the case 
has been dropped by the prosecutor.  It is believed that Ministry of 
Interior officials hesitated to bring charges because MBaye and his 
associates threatened to "out" all homosexuals they know in 
government and judicial circles. 
 
Human Rights Organizations protest 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister of Justice was pressured by the International 
Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) to release the 
detainees.  Strong pressure also came from local human rights NGOS, 
especially Raddho (African Rally for Human Rights), whose leader 
Alioune Tine condemned the detention as contrary to Senegal's 
Constitution that guarantees individual freedom and the UN Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Senegal in 1981.  A 
coalition of NGOs also issued a statement demanding that the 
government decriminalize homosexuality - the document was signed by 
Raddho, the local chapter of Amnesty International, the National 
Human Rights Organization (ONDH) and the International Federation 
for Human Rights (FDIH).  They all called for the abrogation of 
Article 319 of Senegal's Penal Code, which "condemns whoever commits 
indecent or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex to one 
to five years of imprisonment and payment of a fine of 100,000 to 
1.5 million CFA" (200 to 3,000 US dollars). 
 
Islamic Reformists lead the charge 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Two organizations are leading the charge against gays - 
JAMRA, an Islamic NGO, and MRDS (Movement for Reform and Social 
Development), a political party led by Imam Mbaye Niang, Deputy at 
the National Assembly.  The Vice President of JAMRA, Imam Massamba 
Diop, invited all Imams to condemn homosexuality in their February 8 
sermons.  His call was answered and one imam went as far as 
recommending stoning homosexuals.  Deputy Niang led debates in the 
media, and intends to convene a National Assembly session to force 
the government to explain why they granted immunity to the 
homosexuals by refusing to prosecute them.  He also visited the 
Caliph-General of the Mouride Brotherhood to seek his support in his 
anti-gay campaign.  Both JAMRA and MRDS are very small organizations 
seeking to use this opportunity to appeal to people's religious 
values to increase their political support. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On Friday February 15, after the noon prayer at the Grand 
Mosque of Dakar, Imam Mbaye Niang led a crowd of about five hundred 
people gathered inside the Mosque to prepare for a demonstration. 
The chanted "Alahou Akbar" (God is great) and "Allahou Wahidoun" 
(God is Unique) and carried banners saying "End Moral Degeneration." 
 Riot police closed all the streets around the mosque and tried to 
corral the demonstrators inside the compound of the Grand Mosque. 
When demonstrators started to throw rocks at them, the police 
responded with tear gas.  When the rock-throwing then escalated, 
police officers entered the mosque compound, chased the 
demonstrators, and used batons to beat some of them. A total of 28 
people were arrested and later relased.   Additional demonstrators 
dispersed aroun the Mosque and attacked government-owned buses wih 
stones.  Opposition parties and many ordinary eople condemned he 
police action inside a religius shrine.  National Assembly deputy 
and Imam Ning has indicated that he will continue his campaig to 
pressure the government, by introducing in prliament a bill to 
increase sentences for homoseuality.  In a press conference held on 
February 15, Niang expressed regret that the government provides 
medical care and products that facilitate the practice of 
homosexuality in Senegal. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
DAKAR 00000187  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Senegal is a generally tolerant society with a moderate 
form of Islam.  But it is clear that Senegalese society is 
undergoing fast urban transformation and is being torn between the 
model of an open Western democratic system and a traditional Islamic 
social order that idealizes the past.  The country's small minority 
of Islamist fundamentalists see this as an opportunity to revitalize 
their brand of political Islam.  Their current homophobic campaign 
and their successful opposition to changes to Senegal's adoption law 
in 2007 are partly possible because of the election of one of their 
leaders, Imam Mbaye Niang, to the National Assembly.  While the 
traditional religious brotherhoods, the Mourides and the Tijanes, 
were not part of the demonstration and have not expressed a will to 
confront homosexuals, their restraint and the determination of 
Islamic fundamentalists such as Imam Niang, who are pushing for a 
moral renaissance, could result in mob justice whereby some 
individuals, with the tacit approval of many in society at large, 
will take matters into their own hands. 
SMITH