Human rights groups call on White House to condemn abuses in The Gambia

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has joined the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center) to urge the Obama Administration to take additional action against Gambian leaders as the regime continues to persecute LGBT citizens, calling on the White House to condemn the horrific human rights abuses taking place…

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Thirteen human rights organizations urge Obama administration to take action against Gambian government

Today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) joined 13 other human rights groups in urging the Obama Administration to take additional action against Gambian leaders following the regime’s ongoing crackdown and persecution of LGBT citizens, and called on it to demand that the Gambian government provide more information about the health and safety of individuals who…

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Obama administration takes action against Gambian government over anti-LGBT laws

The Obama administration has taken action against the Gambian government following recent human rights abuses in the country, which include the vicious targeting of LGBT people and a new law that could send some LGBT Gambians to prison for life. In a statement released by the White House, the United States has suspended The Gambia’s…

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The Gambia: UN High Commissioner Zeid criticizes harsh legal amendment, violence and arrests targeting gay men and lesbians

GENEVA — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday criticized a recent amendment to the Criminal Code of The Gambia that creates a broad and vague offence of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by life imprisonment. He also expressed alarm at reports of a wave of arbitrary arrests and detention of individuals…

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The state of LGBT equality in Africa

Months after Uganda’s Constitutional Court overturned its Anti-Homosexuality Act, which prescribed life in prison for many instances of gay sex, nearly identical legislation returned — this time in the Gambia, reports Thom Senzee for The Advocate. In October, Chad took up a sweeping bill that calls for 20-year prison sentences for those percieved to be…

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The Gambia passes new anti-LGBT legislation

According to multiple news reports, The Gambia’s National Assembly has passed legislation that includes nearly identical language to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law in February. The Gambian legislation includes life sentences for those who are convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” or are considered “repeat offenders,” among other charges. The legislation…

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