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Amnesty expects Obama to defend gay rights in Africa
Portuguese Translation of the Week
Amnesty International stated on Tuesday, June 25, that Barack Obama, president of the United States, should use his trip to Africa this week to speak out against the growing threats against gays and lesbians that are reaching dangerous level in the continent.
The human rights group released a report titled, "Making Love a Crime: Criminalization of Same-Sex Conduct in Sub-Saharan Africa", which warns that governments in the African continent were stiffening penalties against homosexuals.
"O presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, deve usar sua viagem à África nesta semana para discursar contra as ameaças a gays e lésbicas que estão chegando a níveis perigosos no continente, disse a Anistia Internacional nesta terça-feira (25). O grupo de direitos humanos divulgou um relatório intitulado "Fazendo do Amor um Crime: a Criminalização das Condutas de Mesmo Sexo na África Subsaariana", que alerta que os governos no continente estavam endurecendo as penalidades contra homossexuais."
This article has been translated from Portuguese. Click here to read the original version on Mundo.
Obama has openly advocated for the advancement of gay rights abroad, and instructs American diplomats and humanitarian workers to work on this issue.
Amnesty affirmed that it expects the president of the United States to speak out against the persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders when he makes his first substantial visit to Africa, with stops in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
"His silence would be seen as indifference towards their suffering," said Adotei Akwei, Africa specialist for Amnesty International, in a statement complimenting the release of the report.
The Amnesty report said that consensual homosexual conduct was criminalized in thirty eight countries, with some seeking to develop new laws to increase penalties.
Senegal and Tanzania, two of the countries which Obama will be visiting, are among the countries where homosexuality is criminalized. South Africa has a persistently high number of rapes and murders in the LGBT community, according to Amnesty.
Photo attributed to Roni Weiss on Flickr Commons
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