By Melanie Nathan, Nov 03, 2024
In announcing U.S State Department's Assistant Secretary Molly Phee’s Travel to the Arts festival, Dakar Biennale, in Senegal, and in seeking to expand U.S. investment, it is difficult to look away from Senegal's glaring human rights infractions that serve to license and foster violence against LGBTQI+ people, by state and non-state actors, alike.
The State department Press Announcement Notes:
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee will travel from November 2-8 to Dakar, Senegal, to participate in the Dakar Biennale, one of the largest arts festivals in Africa. Assistant Secretary Phee will be joined by the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Kevin Young, who is also a member of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement. The United States is a Guest of Honor at the 2024 Dakar Biennale and will host a national pavilion featuring works by seven U.S. artists reflecting the theme “The Work of the Wake.” These works explore the deep cultural connections between the United States and Africa and showcase diverse and powerful expressions of identity, resilience, and cultural heritage. Assistant Secretary Phee and Director Young will highlight the importance of cultural exchanges and the longstanding partnership between the peoples of the United States and Senegal.During her visit, Assistant Secretary Phee will also lead a commercial diplomacy delegation to introduce American companies to Senegal. In meetings with Senegalese government officials and private sector stakeholders, Assistant Secretary Phee will be joined by the Founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen, Rahama Wright, who is also the Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, and by a delegation of distinguished U.S. companies. They will consult with Senegalese partners on how to expand U.S. investment and commercial ties.
In the U.S. State department's own 2023 Human Rights Reporting, this is what they noted. (The 2024 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report will be released in March/April of next year, 2025.)
Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by or on behalf of prison or security officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political detainees; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including unjustified arrests of journalists; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, and female genital mutilation/cutting; trafficking in persons; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons.
In simple terms Wikipedia notes:
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Senegal experience legal persecution. Senegal specifically outlaws same-sex sexual acts and, in the past, has prosecuted men accused of homosexuality. Members of the LGBT community face routine discrimination in Senegalese society.According to the 2013 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97% of Senegal residents believe that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, a figure unchanged from 2007.
Current conditions reflect this number at above 90%, still. As an expert witness for asylum seekers from Senegal, I present to U.S. and global immigration tribunals a more in depth set of facts and circumstances delineating the harsh country conditions that support the deathly danger in deporting LGBTQI+ asylum seekers to Senegal. My expert Witness Country Conditions reports are extensive, some 50 pages in length detailing the awful conditions for gays, lesbians, bisexual and Trans Senegalese.
n more detail, the U.S. State Department, the very department now praising the US attendance at the ARTS FESTIVAL, reflects the following:
Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics
Criminalization: Consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults, referred to in law as an “unnatural act,” was a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. The government sometimes enforced this law. In August, police arrested 10 persons in an apartment in the Parcelles Assainies neighborhood of Dakar for allegedly violating the “unnatural act” law. Authorities dropped the charges and released the individuals in September.
Violence and Harassment: Some local observers believed police condoned or promoted violence against the LGBTQI+ community. LGBTQI+ individuals were subject to frequent threats, mob attacks, robberies, expulsions, blackmail, and rape, and were sometimes refused burial in religious cemeteries. Political figures sometimes condoned or tolerated these abuses.Observers reported continued politicization of LGBTQI+ issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election, forcing LGBTQI+ community members to flee or hide for their safety. Anti-LGBTQI+ discourse from political parties and others created a threatening atmosphere for LGBTQI+ persons.
Discrimination: No laws prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. No hate crime laws existed to prosecute crimes motivated by bias against LGBTQI+ persons. LGBTQI+ persons faced widespread social intolerance, and LGBTQI+ activists reported discrimination in access to social services, including in education and health services. Government and cultural attitudes remained heavily biased against LGBTQI+ persons.
Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: There was no process by which individuals could change gender identity markers on legal and identifying documents to align with their gender identity.
Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices: Observers did not report specific cases of forced or involuntary so-called conversion therapy of children or adults through a formal institution or practice. Nonetheless, widespread social, cultural, and religious intolerance led to continual attempts to “convert” LGBTQI+ individuals informally through family, religious, medical, educational, or other community pressures, including forced marriage. The government and medical associations did nothing to limit such practices.
Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: The government prohibited LGBTQI+ organizations from legally registering or convening meetings on the premise that such gatherings were against public order. The government closely scrutinized NGO registrations for linkages to the LGBTQI+ community, including rejecting applications with a strong focus on gender-related topics.
Working with LGBTQI+ people from Senegal, I endorse what is stated in the Report above and assert it is a lot worse than reflected in the said report. African Human rights Coalition receives direct reporting that is never reported to authorities out of extreme fear, and hence we have information that the U.S. Government may not be privy to, in their reporting. The reporting we receive is dire. The violence is substantial.
Yet it seems Senegal remains free of U.S. consequences, without reprimand, and the U.S. is hence tacitly supportive. Indeed it is a fine balance to not interfere with the laws, norms and culture of a sovereign country. However there are steps one can take that mitigates the absolute nod of approval Senegal is receiving though statements and visits such as that of Director Young, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, reflected above. Indeed we do not know what goes on behind the scenes or if such missions present opportunities that are in fact served. Yet for years we see no improvement for LGBTQI+ people, but rather a worsening environment.
The most glaring of the silent among us are the U.S. activists, who seem to ignore the plight of LGBTQI people, victims of colonization and religious extremism from the Islamic and Evangelical Christian influence in African countries. They do not seem to be at all concerned about the victims of African governments intended extinction of homosexuals, through criminalizing legislation and the violence it incites from state and non-state actors, alike.
By Melanie NathanCountry Conditions expert witness forAfrican LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers
Commissionermnathan@gmail.comLINK: HERE
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