>> Sri Lanka scuttles move to legitimise homosexuality
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Le gouvernement sri-lankais a refusé mercredi une clause rédigée par un groupe d’experts pour les droits de l’homme, suggérant la suppression de toute discrimination liée à l’orientation sexuelle. Elle irait à l’encontre du Code pénal, a indiqué le ministre de la Santé Rajitha Senaratne, estimant que l’approuver risquerait d’être « interprétée en leur faveur » par les homosexuels, qui l’utiliseraient pour créer « des problèmes sociaux ».
Hérité de l’ère coloniale britannique, le Code pénal de l’île, datant de 1883, punit de douze ans d’emprisonnement les relations sexuelles entre hommes dans son article 365, toutefois rarement appliqué, a insisté M. Senaratne, précisant que le projet de plan d’action national pour les droits de la personne comportait déjà une disposition similaire.
Après une intense campagne menée en 1995 par un groupe militant pour les droits des homosexuels, le gouvernement d’alors avait donné son accord pour faire évoluer la législation. Mais au lieu de retirer l’article controversé, il avait étendu son champ d’application aux femmes.
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>> Sri Lanka’s cabinet has rejected a proposal to end discrimination based on sexual orientation because it could legitimise homosexuality, which is illegal on the island, a government minister said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka’s 1883 penal code, a legacy of its British colonial rulers, makes sex between men punishable by 12 years in jail, although the law is rarely enforced.
Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the cabinet had refused to endorse a provision in a proposed human rights plan that would have undermined the code.
« There was a provision referring to the sexual orientation of individuals and we clearly said it was not acceptable, » said Senaratne, who is also the government spokesperson.
« The government is against homosexuality, but we will not prosecute anyone for practising it,” the minister said, adding that the island’s conservative Buddhist clergy was also opposed to the provision.
He said the proposed National Human Rights Action Plan included a provision to remove « discrimination based on sexual orientation ».
« People could interpret this (rights plan) in their favour, » the minister said, adding that the government did not want to create « social problems » by inviting a challenge to the law.
Following intense campaigning by a gay rights group in 1995, the then government agreed to review the penal code that prohibited sex between men.
But rather than repeal the law, they expanded it to include women.
Rights activists say although there have been no known prosecutions in recent decades, Article 365 of the penal code is discriminatory and stigmatises homosexuality.
They also argue that it has led to the abuse of gay people.
