Comoros court convicts lesbian couple, sentences them to months in jail
A court in Comoros on Dec. 12 sentenced two lesbian women to five and six months in prison respectively after it found them guilty of homosexuality.
Authorities arrested the young couple in June on allegations they engaged in same-sex sexual relations and asked an imam to marry them.
The women had been in custody since their arrest, which prompted the judge to release them with time served. Human Dignity Trust, an international human rights organization, described the couple’s conviction as a violation of human rights. “The conviction of the lesbian couple calls for increased vigilance,” said the group. “The mere existence of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination.” Susan Dicklitch-Nelson, a researcher at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, said LGBTQ people are being used as scapegoats for the current social and economic ills. “LGBT people remain some of the most targeted and vulnerable people,” she said. “They have been branded as social pariahs and scapegoated for the economic, political, and social ills.” Article 318 of Comoros’s penal code criminalizes “improper or unnatural acts between persons of the same-sex.” The punishment for engaging in same-sex relations includes a fine, a prison sentence or both, with up to five years imprisonment.
Although the lesbian couple’s conviction and sentencing is a first in the East African country for violating Article 318, Human Dignity Trust said it is not a clear reflection of the current state of LGBTQ people in Comoros. “There is limited evidence of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, however, the lack of LGBT organizations and the hostile environment for LGBT people likely contributes to this lack of information,” said Human Dignity trust.
