Mali Passes Law to Jail Gay People
United Nations pledge last December promising that Mali would promote and protect human rights. While LGBTQ rights were not specifically mentioned, the pledge stated that vital human rights include access to education, employment, and health care, as well as the ability to be paid fairly, voting rights, the right to free speech, the right to privacy, and mutual respect.The LGBTQ community faces much hostility in Mali, a predominantly Islamic African country where homosexuality is viewed as a Western import.At the same time, Sharia law, or Muslim religious law, does not tolerate same-sex relations, and people can face extrajudicial punishments ranging from subjection to conversion therapy and amputation to flogging to death.That means that most LGBTQ Malians are forced to remain closeted or do LGBTQ-specific work under a veil of secrecy.
Additionally, law enforcement officials may sometimes choose to prosecute known LGBTQ activists under statutes barring acts of “public indecency.”The global rights organization Human Rights Watch noted in a recent report that, since 2021, when the ruling military junta took control of the nation, the Malian government has cracked down on media and political opposition groups.
The junta has also sought to justify the prosecution of LGBTQ individuals and same-sex relations as defending “traditional and moral values.”Human Rights Watch reported there has been a recent increase in arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as physical assaults, based on appearance or gender expression.
One LGBTQ rights activist told Human Rights Watch, “We all live in constant fear, now more than ever.”Human Rights Watch has urged the ruling junta to suspend the law, arguing that its provisions violate Mali’s obligations under international human rights laws, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which condemns anti-LGBTQ violence and discrimination.
