Senegal's LGBT+ crackdown casts shadow on Dakar 2026

As the African country prepares to host the first Youth Olympic Games on the continent, human rights activists have called on the nation to end its persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

随着这个非洲国家准备举办首届非洲大陆青年奥林匹克运动会，人权活动人士呼吁该国停止迫害女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋及跨性别者。

In April, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a new law doubling the maximum prison term for sexual acts by same-sex couples to ten years, and criminalises the 'promotion' of homosexuality, which includes any public representation and financial support by individuals or organisations. Back then, United Nations rights chief Volker Türk said that the anti-LGBT legislation "flies in the face of sacrosanct human rights" and urged the president not to sign it into law. 

4月，总统巴西鲁·迪奥马耶·法耶签署了一项新法律，将同性伴侣发生性行为的最高刑期翻倍至10年，同时将“宣扬”同性恋定为犯罪行为，这包括个人或组织的任何公开表态以及资金支持。当时，联合国人权事务高级专员沃尔克·蒂尔克表示，这项反LGBTQ+法律“公然违背不可侵犯的人权”，并敦促总统不要将其签署生效。

The government dismissed international pushback, arguing that the measures reflected the views of the Senegalese people. The legislation, approved by parliament in March, followed the detention of more than a dozen men over the last year, including in the capital Dakar, set to host the Youth Olympics, on charges including 'acts against nature' and 'intentional transmission of HIV'.

政府对国际社会的反对置若罔闻，辩称这些措施体现了塞内加尔民众的意愿。这项于3月获议会通过的法案出台前，过去一年已有十余名男子遭拘留，其中包括在即将举办青年奥运会的首都达喀尔被捕的人员，他们被控“违背自然的行为”和“故意传播艾滋病病毒”等罪名。

Arrests of suspected LGBT people have heightened since the law took effect. "LGBT people are being forced to curb their normal activities and to keep from exercising their rights for fear of arrest and increased stigma," said Larissa Kojoué, LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Senegal's government should call a halt to this crackdown, which threatens everyone's rights."

自该法律生效以来，对疑似LGBT人士的逮捕事件有所增加。人权观察组织的LGBT权利研究员拉里萨·科朱埃表示：“由于担心被逮捕以及污名化加剧，LGBT人士被迫限制正常活动，无法行使自身权利。塞内加尔政府应叫停这一镇压行动，它正威胁着所有人的权利。”

Mouhamadou Seck, secretary-general of Senegalese organisation African Forum for the Defence of Human Rights, revealed that "detentions, violence, and abuse against LGBT individuals have sharply increased across the country." 

塞内加尔非洲人权辩护论坛秘书长穆哈马杜·塞克透露，“全国范围内针对性少数群体的拘留、暴力和虐待行为大幅增加。”

Several gay sports activists voiced their concerns about the escalating hatred in the African nation. Jérémy Clamy-Edroux, the first and only professional men's rugby player in France to publicly come out as gay, and former football coach Brahim Naït-Balk, are among the signatories of an open letter sent last May to President Faye of Senegal. "Signing this open letter was crucial because what is happening in Senegal is hatred directed at my community," Clamy-Edroux told Outsports. 

几位同性恋体育活动人士表达了他们对这个非洲国家不断升级的仇恨情绪的担忧。法国首位也是目前唯一一位公开出柜的职业男子橄榄球运动员热雷米·克拉米-埃德鲁，以及前足球教练易卜拉欣·奈特-巴尔克，是去年5月向塞内加尔总统法耶发出公开信的签名者之一。克拉米-埃德鲁在接受“Outsports”采访时表示：“签署这封公开信至关重要，因为塞内加尔发生的事情是针对我所在群体的仇恨。”

The letter is also supported by Annah Bikouloulou, deputy mayor of Paris; Olivier Serva, member of the National Assembly for Guadeloupe; Alice Nkom of Cameroon, lawyer, member of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent; and Doudou Diène of Senegal, former UN Special Rapporteur on new forms of discrimination.

这封信还得到了巴黎副市长安娜·比库卢卢、瓜德罗普国民议会议员奥利维耶·塞尔瓦、喀麦隆律师、联合国非洲人后裔常设论坛成员爱丽丝·恩科姆，以及塞内加尔的杜杜·迪耶内——联合国新型歧视问题前特别报告员的支持。

They  deny claims that homosexuality is 'unAfrican' and argued that "in many African languages, including Wolof [the local language in Senegal], terms have long existed to describe realities related to homosexuality, proof that it is neither new nor imported."

他们否认同性恋是“非非洲式的”这一说法，并辩称：“在包括塞内加尔当地语言沃洛夫语在内的许多非洲语言中，一直存在着描述与同性恋相关现实的词汇，这证明同性恋既非新生事物，也非外来引入。”

"On the other hand, the laws that repress them are, for the most part, a legacy of colonisation. Whether it be the French-inspired penal codes or the 'sodomy laws' introduced by the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria, these provisions were imposed from outside. And the foreign forces pushing Senegal to prosecute homosexual and transgender people, and even to ban any calm debate on the issue, are very diverse," the letter underscored.

“另一方面，压制他们的法律在很大程度上是殖民统治的遗留产物。无论是受法国启发的刑法典，还是大英帝国在维多利亚女王统治时期引入的‘鸡奸法’，这些条款都是从外部强加的。而迫使塞内加尔起诉同性恋和跨性别者，甚至禁止就该问题进行任何平和辩论的外部势力，种类繁多，”这封信强调。

They furthered that Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates, consistently fought against discrimination based on sexual orientation. “Furthermore, several African countries have recently moved towards greater recognition of rights: Botswana, Mozambique, Gabon and Angola have decriminalised homosexuality in recent years. These choices show that, within Africa itself, there are diverse paths forward, and that no inevitability condemns the continent to repression."

他们进一步指出，同为诺贝尔和平奖得主的纳尔逊·曼德拉和德斯蒙德·图图一直致力于反对基于性取向的歧视。“此外，有几个非洲国家近年来在权利认可方面迈出了更大步伐：博茨瓦纳、莫桑比克、加蓬和安哥拉已在近年将同性恋非罪化。这些选择表明，非洲内部存在多样的发展道路，没有必然因素注定该大陆陷入压制。”

"The saddest part is that we do not choose to be gay, we simply wish to love and be loved." Naït-Balk, coach of the pioneering club Paris Foot Gay, says the Olympic Charter, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, is ineffective without 'genuine guarantees'. 

“最令人难过的是，我们并非选择成为同性恋者，我们只是渴望去爱与被爱。”开创性俱乐部巴黎同性恋足球俱乐部的教练奈特-巴尔克表示，《奥林匹克宪章》中禁止基于性取向的歧视的条款，若没有“真正的保障”便形同虚设。

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association has further urged the International Olympic Committee "to ensure that Dakar 2026 is safe for everyone". The IOC has told Outsports it will work to ensure the Charter's principles are upheld in Dakar, adding that it has 'full confidence' in the Senegalese authorities.

国际女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者及间性人协会进一步敦促国际奥林匹克委员会“确保2026年达喀尔赛事对所有人都是安全的”。国际奥委会向Outsports表示，将致力于确保在达喀尔践行《奥林匹克宪章》的原则，并补充称其对塞内加尔当局“充满信心”。