NIAMEY – Niger’s military-led government has introduced a new penal code that makes homosexuality a criminal offense, according to an adviser to the justice minister who spoke on Friday.
The West African country now joins a growing list of nations moving to outlaw same-sex relations, after Senegal adopted comparable measures earlier this year.
Under the revised penal code, anyone who “commits or attempts to commit an immodest or unnatural act or practices lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, Queer, intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) acts” faces a prison sentence of five to 10 years, along with a financial penalty, the text states.
The code also extends those punishments to others connected to such unions. “This same penalty is applicable to persons who officiated the marriage, to the witnesses of the alleged spouses, as well as to persons who have given their consent for the celebration of the marriage and to the organizers,” the new law says.
Hamidou Julien, an adviser to Niger’s justice minister, confirmed to The Associated Press that the legislation came into force on Thursday.
Until now, homosexuality had not been banned under Nigerien law, although it has long faced strong social stigma in the country.
Laws prohibiting homosexuality are common across Africa: more than 30 of the 54 countries criminalize same-sex sexual acts. Niger has joined countries like Senegal, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, where penalties can include 10 or more years of imprisonment. In Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania, the offense can carry the death penalty.
