VZCZCXRO3966
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0317/01 1471444
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271444Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0347
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000317 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KISL ML
SUBJECT: MALIAN POLICE PREVENT MEETING OF HOMOSEXUALS IN 
BAMAKO 
 
REF: 05 BAMAKO 00960 
 
¶1.  Summary:  On April 13 Malian police prevented a gay and 
lesbian group from holding a meeting on the margins of an 
HIV/AIDS conference supported by a local NGO in Bamako. 
Although police dissuaded the group from meeting, erroneous 
local newspaper reports to the contrary prompted a group of 
senior Malian Imams to petition the Malian government to 
officially annul a conference which in fact never took place. 
 This is the first time Malian officials have interceded to 
prevent a homosexual group from meeting since 2005 when Natie 
Plea, then Governor of Bamako and now Minister of Defense, 
refused to recognize a homosexual association based on an 
August 2004 law banning the creation of any association 
deemed contrary to morality (reftel).  Police efforts to 
prevent the meeting, the Malian media's misleading 
characterization of the April 13 event, and the strange 
demand of Malian Muslim leaders highlight homosexuals' 
precarious status in an otherwise tolerant nation.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Misleading Malian Media Accounts 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  At least two Malian newspapers reported on the 
involvement of a gay and lesbian group in an April 13 
HIV/AIDS conference at the Olympe Hotel in Bamako.  On April 
16 the newspaper Le Malien falsely reported, under the 
headline "Satan at the Olympe Hotel," that police had 
arrested 30 homosexuals, including individuals from Mali, 
Senegal, Congo, Cameroon and elsewhere, who were attending 
the April 13 conference.  The newspaper claimed Malian 
authorities were particularly concerned by the potential 
involvement of several Senegalese gay and lesbian activists 
who, according to Le Malien, had previously attempted but 
failed to organize a similar conference in Dakar.  Le Malien 
praised the "excellent" performance of the Malian police 
force in preventing the gay and lesbian group from meeting in 
Mali. 
 
¶3.  On April 20 the opposition newspaper Info Matin presented 
a dramatically different account of the April 13 incident 
which criticized local police for allowing a "Conference of 
Homosexuals" to occur.  According to Info Matin, Malian 
police were on site at the Olympe not to break up the event 
but to provide security for the conference.  Info Matin 
lamented the failure of the police to break up the gathering, 
noting that Malian authorities must have known about the 
existence of the gathering as Muslim leaders had complained 
to authorities in advance. 
 
------------------ 
The Police Version 
------------------ 
 
¶4.  According to Malian police, the HIV/AIDS workshop at the 
Olympe was organized by a local NGO, Arcade SIDA, which 
conducts outreach campaigns to at risk individuals regardless 
of sexual orientation.  Police admitted that a group of 
Malian homosexuals had tried to organize a meeting on the 
margins of the Arcade SIDA event and that police pressure 
effectively prevented this meeting from taking place.  Police 
did not provide information on tactics used to prevent this 
group from meeting.  Police did note, however, that no 
arrests were made. 
 
--------------------------- 
Imams Try to Turn Back Time 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The official police version of the incident at the Olympe 
has apparently not yet reached leaders of a local group known 
as the Malian League of Imams and Erudites for Islamic 
Solidarity.  On May 16 this group, led by High Council of 
Islam president Mahmoud Dicko, issued a declaration calling 
on the Malian government to formally condemn "such 
dishonorable horror happening on Malian soil."  Imam Dicko 
added that there is no room for debate on homosexuality in 
Mali and asked the government to retroactively "annul" the 
conference to remove any trace of the conference's existence 
from Malian history.  According to the Malian newspaper 
Nouvel Horizon, Imam Dicko subsequently raised this subject 
with President Amadou Toumani Toure. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Comment: The Limits of Malian Tolerance 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Malian culture is known for its tolerance of others. This 
tradition informs Malian Islamic practices as well, and 
leaders of Mali's majority Sufi and minority al-Sunna (or 
 
BAMAKO 00000317  002 OF 002 
 
 
Wahhabi) communities frequently speak up in favor of 
tolerance, moderation, and acceptance.  This tolerance, 
however, does not extend to homosexuality, as official and 
societal discrimination continues to prevent Malian 
homosexuals from organizing or meeting openly. 
MILOVANOVIC