A Moroccan appeals court has upheld the convictions of men accused of “homosexual acts”. At least four of the six defendants in the case in central Morocco were convicted on charges that included “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex,” under the penal code. Human Rights Watch says besides charges that discriminate based on sexual orientation, the case may raise fair trial concerns. The appeals court in the city of Beni Mellal upheld the conviction of the men solely on the basis of statements that they made while in police custody. A defence lawyer, Hadda Maidar, has told Human Rights Watch all six renounced those statements at the trial, asserting they had only signed them because of police threats. She says the court called no witnesses and reviewed no other evidence, and all of the defendants denied in court that they were gay. Sarah Leah Whitson from Human Rights Watch “Moroccan authorities should stop prosecuting and jailing people for their intimate behaviour with other consenting adults,” says Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Whatever the sexual orientation of these six defendants, they shouldn’t face criminal penalties because of it.” Police arrested the men in April in Fqih Bensalah, a small inland city 200 kilometres south of Rabat. On 12 May, they were convicted of homosexual acts, along with incitement to prostitution, and public drunkenness or driving under the influence. One of the men was sentenced to three years in prison, another to two-and-a-half years, and the other four to shorter sentences. Human Rights Watch says the court also banished several and perhaps all six defendants from the region, a punishment that article 504 of the penal code provides for “moral” crimes. In its 2 July ruling, the appeals court shortened the two prison terms for two defendants, converted the others to suspended sentences, and cancelled the banishment orders. Human Rights Watch says whether or not the other charges in this case have merit, and whether or not the men received a fair trial, the Moroccan government should stop prosecuting people for being gay. Article 489 of the penal code punishes homosexual acts with six months to three years in prison and a fine. In 2007, a court in the northern city of Ksar el-Kbir sentenced six men to prison under article 489. The police arrested them after a video appeared on YouTube purporting to show a private party, at which the defendants were allegedly present, that the media described as a “gay wedding.” Human Rights Watch says criminalizing consensual, adult same-sex conduct violates fundamental human rights protected under international law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Morocco ratified in 1979, prohibits interference with the right to privacy. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has condemned laws against consensual homosexual conduct as violations of the ICCPR. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has held that arrests for consensual homosexual conduct are, by definition, human rights violations. Morocco’s 2011 constitution, in its preamble, states that Morocco “commits to banning and combatting all discrimination toward anyone, because of gender, colour, beliefs, culture, social or regional origin, language, handicap, or whatever personal circumstance.” “If Morocco aspires to be a regional leader on human rights, it should take the step of abolishing its laws that discriminate against private activity between consenting adults because they are of the same sex.” Whitson says.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 10th July 2014 - 10:05am