The Supreme Court docket of Mauritius decriminalizes sexual relations between homosexuals

The best courtroom of Mauritius has decriminalized sexual relations between gay individuals, declaring as unconstitutional a regulation relationship from the British colonial period.

This historic resolution was instantly welcomed by the LGBTQ neighborhood of this vacationer island within the Indian Ocean, identified for its tolerance and which had already hosted gay occasions prior to now. However till now, a regulation relationship from 1898 punished anybody responsible of sodomy with a sentence of as much as 5 years in jail.

This text of the penal code “was not launched to Mauritius to mirror Mauritian values ​​however is the legacy of our colonial historical past with Nice Britain”two Supreme Court docket judges stated on Wednesday. “We due to this fact declare that Article 250 (which punished gay relations) is unconstitutional”they added.

A authorized attraction was filed by the homosexual neighborhood, who believed that the regulation violated elementary rights.

Wave of repression towards homosexuals in East Africa

The Supreme Court docket’s resolution was welcomed by human rights actions in addition to UNAIDS, the United Nations company accountable for preventing HIV/AIDS, who careworn that it will assist save Lives.

“Males who’ve relationships with males will be capable of have simpler entry to well being and social companies with out concern of being arrested or prosecuted”underlined Anne Githuku-Shongwe, regional supervisor of UNAIDS.

However work stays to be completed to fight the stigmatization of the LGBTQ neighborhood, in line with her. A number of religions coexist in Mauritius: round half of the 1.3 million inhabitants are Hindu, slightly below a 3rd are Christian and the remaining are Muslim.

This resolution comes at a time when a wave of repression towards homosexuals is sweeping a number of East African nations, usually inspired by Muslim and Christian conservatives.

In Uganda, for instance, a rustic with a conservative Christian majority, President Yoweri Museveni promulgated an anti-homosexuality regulation in Could which gives for heavy penalties for individuals having gay relations and fascinating in sexual exercise. « promotion » of homosexuality. The crime of“aggravated homosexuality” is punishable by the loss of life penalty, a sentence which has, nevertheless, not been utilized for years in Uganda. This regulation, among the many most repressive on the planet, has sparked outrage from the United Nations, human rights teams and plenty of Western nations.