VZCZCXRO7909
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0634/01 1391218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191218Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2419
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000634 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM KDEM ECON SG
SUBJECT: Senegal Grapples with Homosexuality 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: On April 20, The Court of Appeals of Dakar freed 
nine homosexual men who had been condemned to eight years in prison 
in January 2009.  The court ruled that the police had contravened 
the law when they searched their homes and further ruled that the 
evidence on which the conviction was based was inadmissible.  While 
the Court of Appeals ostensibly based its ruling on sound 
jurisprudence, the quashing of the sentences can also be credited to 
international pressure led by France and the European Union (EU), as 
well as efforts by local human rights organizations.  A group of 
conservative Islamic leaders, outraged by the court's decision, have 
indicated that they will fight homosexuality.   End Summary. 
 
Liberty V Public Order 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On April 20, the Court of Appeals disallowed evidence used 
to convict nine homosexuals because police who  searched their homes 
had done so without a warrant, thereby violating their right of the 
men to not be subjected to illegal search and seizure.  A human 
rights lawyer told the Embassy that the defendants' attorneys 
mishandled the case in the first instance by failing to object to 
the illegal search and seizure.  He went on to say that, by the time 
the case reached the Court of Appeals, the defense attorneys had 
developed a more effective legal strategy, including appealing 
directly to the Minister of Justice, an attorney himself, who then 
instructed the State Prosecutor not to oppose the Court's decision 
to free the defendants. 
 
Saving Senegal's Image 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The GOS faced a lot of pressure from local and 
international NGOs but the strongest pressure came from the French 
Government, which expressed concern at cabinet level and criticized 
both the imprisonment of the homosexuals in the first place and the 
length of the sentences they received.  While President Wade was 
rumored to have been angered by France's interference, Senegal's 
term in the Human Rights Council ends in July 2009 and observers 
speculated that the GOS did not want anything to interfere with the 
country's election to a new term.  It appears that, in order to 
preserve the country's tolerant image, Wade chose to ignore the 
criticism in order to remain compliant with international standards 
of non-discrimination against all minorities. 
 
Outdated Laws and Hysteria 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Senegal's criminal Code has no reference to homosexuality 
but criminalizes what is referred to as "unnatural acts."  A senior 
judge at the Court of Appeals told the Embassy, "Based on this law 
and how the case was initially handled by the police, any married 
couple could theoretically be arrested in their home and be 
prosecuted for unnatural acts."  He opined that while this law is 
outdated, no politician would dare to propose that the law be 
repealed due to religious and cultural pressures.  Nevertheless, in 
this judge's view, the GOS should simply adopt a policy that 
refrains from prosecuting homosexuals.  Meanwhile, when the nine 
homosexuals were freed, their lawyers advised them to leave the home 
they had rented in MBao (a suburb of Dakar) and to keep a low 
profile.  His advice was prescient because when rumors surfaced that 
they were in Somone, a resort area south of Dakar, residents of the 
local village went to find them, presumably to attack them. 
 
The Corpse of a Homosexual Exhumed by an Angry Mob 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The most recent and violent manifestation of homophobia 
was reported on May 2 in Thies.  Young people in the neighborhood of 
Darusalam exhumed the corpse of a homosexual man, Madieye Diallo, 
who had just been buried in the local cemetery, the same day around 
14:30.  When the family was informed that young people from the 
neighborhood had exhumed the body on the grounds that a homosexual 
could not be buried in their cemetery, they requested the protection 
of the police and buried him a second time, around 17:00.  The 
police protected the grave for a couple of hours but, when they left 
around 20:00, the body was re-exhumed.  This time the perpetrators 
dragged the body to the home of the parents. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) A journalist who witnessed the event told Embassy that 
because of decency laws he could not give a full accounting in his 
published report.  However, he said that Diallo's burial shroud was 
completely torn and his body left half-naked.  The parents kept the 
body for fear of reprisals and during the night travelled to the 
holy city of Touba where they buried their son.  A human rights 
lawyer told Embassy he will ask the GOS to protect the rights of 
anybody to be afforded a burial and request that those who 
desecrated Diallo's body be prosecuted.  The police did not make any 
arrests, claiming that the crime had been perpetrated by a mob and 
as a result no single author could be identified. 
 
DAKAR 00000634  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Some Islamic organizations have declared that they will 
oppose what they see as the attempts by the West to impose 
homosexuality on Senegal.  The desecration of Diallo's body came in 
the aftermath of a rise in homophobic rhetoric by some imams 
following the court case.  Religious brotherhoods have not openly 
joined the homophobic frenzy but are not likely to condemn it 
either.  Given widespread homophobic sentiment among the Senegalese, 
the GOS is not likely to investigate or prosecute those who 
desecrated Diallo's body.  While Senegal continues to be a 
relatively tolerant Muslim country, conservative Islamic values will 
continue to prevail when brought into direct conflict with 
individual rights for homosexuals (or women).  Many otherwise 
enlightened or tolerant Senegalese are quick to say that a 
homosexual's sexual identity is not a problem, as long as a low 
profile is kept. 
Bernicat