DON'T SIGN THE 2014 ANTI GAY BILL AND SCRAP ALL OTHER ANTI GAY LAWS.
DON'T SIGN THE 2014 ANTI GAY BILL AND SCRAP ALL OTHER ANTI GAY LAWS.
The Issue
We urge President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia to
1. Not sign the anti-gay bill 2014
2. Scrap Section 144, 145 and 147 of the Criminal Code Act 2005
3. Offer equality, justice and protection to all lesbian, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Gambia.
4. Respect and implement Section 17 and 33 of the Gambian Constitution
5. Respect and implement Article 2 and 3 of the African Charter of Human and people’s rights.
6. Respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
7. Respect the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 2014 resolution on the Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations Against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity.
8. Follow religious values of love, compassion and non-violence.
9. Respect the African cultural traditional teachings of love, tolerance, equality, humanity and non-violence.
We also urge the African Union, United Nations, European Union, business leaders and international leaders to speak out against this bill and all other anti-gay laws in Gambia.
On 25 August 2014, The National Assembly of Gambia passed the bill for the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2014. The bill will make “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by life imprisonment.
Among those who could be given the life sentence are "repeat offenders" and people living with HIV who are suspected of being gay or lesbian.
A person who has had homosexual relations with a minor could also be convicted of "aggravated homosexuality"
President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has 30 days from the bill's passage to sign the bill into law or return it to the National Assembly for further review.
Under current laws, homosexual acts are already punishable by up to 14 years in prison in The Gambia. Since 2005 these ‘crimes’ have incorporated lesbians as well as gays.
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said in May 2008 that laws "stricter than those in Iran" against homosexuals would soon be introduced and vowed to "cut off the head" of any homosexual caught in the country.
On 15 May 2008, Jammeh gave homosexuals 24 hours to leave the country. He also commanded "all those who harbour such individuals to kick them out of their compounds, noting that a mass patrol will be conducted on the instructions of the [Inspector General of Police] ... and the director of the Gambia Immigration Department to weed bad elements in society".
On 27 September 2013 at the United Nations General Assembly, he declared: “Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end to human existence, it is becoming an epidemic and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behaviour.”
In February 2014, he stated: “We will fight these vermin called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes - if not more aggressively.”
In May 2014, President Jammeh threatened Gambians seeking asylum as a result of discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation,“If I catch them I will kill them.”
In June 2008,Two Spanish men alleged to be gay, Pere Joan, 56 and Juan Monpserrat Rusa, 54, were arrested by Gambian police and detained at Kotu police station. The men were subsequently released, reportedly after the Spanish government intervened.
On 23 December 2008, Frank Boers, a 79-year-old man from the Netherlands, was arrested at Banjul's international airport when officials found him in possession of nude pictures of himself and some Gambian men. A Banjul court found Boers guilty of indecency with those men and sentenced him to pay 100,000 Gambian dalasis (£2,500) in lieu of a two year prison sentence.
In 2012, the authorities arrested 18 men and two women during a raid on a nightclub. They were charged with attempting to commit “unnatural acts” and “conspiracy to commit a felony.” Their pictures and names were displayed in the newspapers. The charges against them were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Many other LGBTI people in Gambia have been persecuted, discriminated and tortured whilst others have fled the country for their own safety.
Please help us to stop this. Sign and share this petition.
We will deliver this petition to the Gambian High Commission in London
The Issue
We urge President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia to
1. Not sign the anti-gay bill 2014
2. Scrap Section 144, 145 and 147 of the Criminal Code Act 2005
3. Offer equality, justice and protection to all lesbian, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Gambia.
4. Respect and implement Section 17 and 33 of the Gambian Constitution
5. Respect and implement Article 2 and 3 of the African Charter of Human and people’s rights.
6. Respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
7. Respect the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 2014 resolution on the Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations Against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity.
8. Follow religious values of love, compassion and non-violence.
9. Respect the African cultural traditional teachings of love, tolerance, equality, humanity and non-violence.
We also urge the African Union, United Nations, European Union, business leaders and international leaders to speak out against this bill and all other anti-gay laws in Gambia.
On 25 August 2014, The National Assembly of Gambia passed the bill for the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2014. The bill will make “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by life imprisonment.
Among those who could be given the life sentence are "repeat offenders" and people living with HIV who are suspected of being gay or lesbian.
A person who has had homosexual relations with a minor could also be convicted of "aggravated homosexuality"
President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has 30 days from the bill's passage to sign the bill into law or return it to the National Assembly for further review.
Under current laws, homosexual acts are already punishable by up to 14 years in prison in The Gambia. Since 2005 these ‘crimes’ have incorporated lesbians as well as gays.
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said in May 2008 that laws "stricter than those in Iran" against homosexuals would soon be introduced and vowed to "cut off the head" of any homosexual caught in the country.
On 15 May 2008, Jammeh gave homosexuals 24 hours to leave the country. He also commanded "all those who harbour such individuals to kick them out of their compounds, noting that a mass patrol will be conducted on the instructions of the [Inspector General of Police] ... and the director of the Gambia Immigration Department to weed bad elements in society".
On 27 September 2013 at the United Nations General Assembly, he declared: “Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end to human existence, it is becoming an epidemic and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behaviour.”
In February 2014, he stated: “We will fight these vermin called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes - if not more aggressively.”
In May 2014, President Jammeh threatened Gambians seeking asylum as a result of discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation,“If I catch them I will kill them.”
In June 2008,Two Spanish men alleged to be gay, Pere Joan, 56 and Juan Monpserrat Rusa, 54, were arrested by Gambian police and detained at Kotu police station. The men were subsequently released, reportedly after the Spanish government intervened.
On 23 December 2008, Frank Boers, a 79-year-old man from the Netherlands, was arrested at Banjul's international airport when officials found him in possession of nude pictures of himself and some Gambian men. A Banjul court found Boers guilty of indecency with those men and sentenced him to pay 100,000 Gambian dalasis (£2,500) in lieu of a two year prison sentence.
In 2012, the authorities arrested 18 men and two women during a raid on a nightclub. They were charged with attempting to commit “unnatural acts” and “conspiracy to commit a felony.” Their pictures and names were displayed in the newspapers. The charges against them were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Many other LGBTI people in Gambia have been persecuted, discriminated and tortured whilst others have fled the country for their own safety.
Please help us to stop this. Sign and share this petition.
We will deliver this petition to the Gambian High Commission in London
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Petition created on 19 September 2014