Senegal’s government has defended its tougher anti-LGBTQ legislation amid growing criticism from international rights groups and activists, with Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko accusing Western countries of trying to “impose” foreign social values on the country.Addressing lawmakers on Friday, Sonko condemned what he described as Western pressure on Senegal over homosexuality. “There is a kind of tyranny. There are perhaps eight billion human beings in the world. Eighty percent or more don’t want (homosexuality),” he told parliament.“No Arab country will criticise us, nor will any African country, but there is a nucleus called the West… which wants to impose it (homosexuality) on the rest of the world,” Sonko said. “Because they have the means (and) control the media, (they) want to impose their diktat. The sovereign Senegalese people do not want these practices here in Senegal.”The prime minister said Senegal had faced criticism abroad, particularly from France, since the law was approved. “If they have opted for these practices, it’s their problem, but we don’t have any lessons to take from them, absolutely none,” he added.The remarks came weeks after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye enacted a controversial new law that significantly increases penalties for same-sex relations in the Muslim-majority West African nation. The legislation, overwhelmingly approved by parliament in March, has already led to dozens of arrests and triggered fierce debate both inside Senegal and abroad.The revised law increases prison sentences for what it describes as “acts against nature” — a term used to refer to same-sex relations — from the previous one-to-five-year term to five-to-10 years in prison. It also introduces sentences of three to seven years for anyone found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.The law has prompted concern internationally. UN rights chief Volker Turk described the legislation as “deeply worrying” and said it “flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights”. A collective of around 30 African-origin personalities, writing in French newspaper Liberation earlier this month, warned of a growing “climate of fear, hatred and violence” in Senegal since the law was passed.
