Mali's Military Junta Has Made Homosexuality A Crime What The New Law Says


Author: Christophe Broqua

(MENAFN- The Conversation) A bloodless coup in 2020 saw the military take control of Mali. Since then there have been growing reports of a declining human rights record in the west African country.

The new leaders – the National Transitional Council – have clamped down on opposition politicians and the media. Promised elections have not been held. Now new laws have been passed that criminalise same-sex relations – and any citizen seen to encourage homosexuality.

Christophe Broqua is an anthropologist who researches lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) life in west Africa, including in Mali. We asked him about the developments.

What does the law now say about same-sex sexual relations?

The new penal code was announced in October 2024 and came into effect on 13 December. It contains various new articles on issues of gender and sexuality. While it condemns gender-based violence, it also criminalises homosexuality.

Same-sex relationships are addressed in three articles. Not only is same-sex practice now criminal and punishable by law in Mali, but anyone seen to be favourable to homosexuality can also be prosecuted.

Read more: Mali celebrates after president's ouster -- but there are few 'good coups'

The first two of the new articles concern“offences against public decency”. They reproduce the public indecency and indecent assault articles of the previous penal code but add same-sex relations to them.

Article 325-1 states:

Article 325-2 has added the following two sentences:

Article 325-10 on incest, which is new, states:

Several other articles also provide for the criminalisation of HIV transmission, which will have a significant impact on men who have sex with men in Mali.

Aside from the new articles in the penal code, a new constitution was brought into effect in Mali in July 2023. In article 9 of chapter 1 it states:

This complements and reinforces article 289 of the Code of Persons and the Family adopted in 2011 . This stipulates, among other things , that“marriage is prohibited between persons of the same sex”.

What was the legal status of queer Malians before this?

Most French-speaking African countries adopted a carbon copy of the anti-homosexual French colonial penal code when they gained independence – including Mali's neighbours Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Mali, however, didn't do so at the time of independence in 1960. It retained absolutely no measures against homosexuality when it drew up its first post-independence penal code.

Do these developments in Mali reflect a regional trend?

Yes, what's happening in Mali points to a more general trend in the Sahel region – although each country must always be considered on its own merits.


A photo of Colonel Aissimi Goïta, interim president following a coup that has seen a deterioration in human rights in Mali. Olympia de Maismont/AFP/Getty Images

Following the coup in Mali in 2020 were coups in neighbouring Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. The same year Niger's leaders announced they would criminalise homosexuality, followed by Burkina Faso in 2024.

This alignment of the three countries is not surprising, and stems from their political situation. All three are currently ruled by military juntas that have overthrown previous regimes and are working under transitional governments pending future elections.

Read more: Being queer in Africa: the state of LGBTIQ+ rights across the continent

They have united in a“Confederation of Sahel States”, and have decided to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States. Diplomatic relations with France have been frozen. In a context like this, the criminalisation of homosexuality is often a sign of opposition to the western world.

In other neighbouring countries, the situation is different. Côte d'Ivoire is seen to be more tolerant of LGBTIQ+ rights. Yet few French-speaking African countries have decriminalised homosexuality in recent years.


The Conversation

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