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Seychelles to Come Good on Promise to Repeal Anti Gay Law

seychellesOne of Africa’s best holiday destinations Seychelles might be the third country on the continent to repeal its antigay laws.

Section 151 of the country’s Penal Code states that a man who has sex with a man against the order of nature can be jailed for up to fourteen years but the Seychelles government is now considering to scrap this law entirely.

Repealing the law which stems from the British colonial days will be a fulfillment of a promise the Seychelles government made over five years ago. The announcement to revoke the antigay law in Seychelles was made in 2011 in a statement to UN.

In October 2011 on timeframes for repealing section 151, the second Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sandra Michel, reportedly answered at the Human Rights Council that ‘the repeal of the l repeal that section. Neither the Government nor the Seychelles society wanted it in their law anymore.

Earlier that year, Seychelles accepted recommendations to repeal all provisions in its domestic law criminalising consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex. 10 The delegation from Seychelles also noted that article 27 of the Constitution prohibited discrimination on any grounds whatsoever, including sexual orientation.

At the Human Rights Council, Seychelles also supported a historic Joint Statement on Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity.

It should be noted that the law applies only to men