2008 In 2008, Dakar's
Icone magazine reported on and published photographs of an alleged gay marriage that had taken place in a private home in Senegal. The editor of the magazine, Mansour Dieng, claimed that he subsequently received death threats. Five men in the photographs were arrested but were later released without charge. It is not clear if the arrests stemmed from Senegal's anti-homosexuality laws or the death threats.
2009 On 19 December 2008, nine men were arrested on charges of homosexuality in a private flat in Dakar, allegedly after police received an anonymous tip. One of the arrestees was
Diadji Diouf, the owner of the flat and a well-known Senegalese activist who heads AIDES Senegal, which provides HIV / AIDS prevention and treatment services to men who have sex with men. The men were repeatedly tortured while in police custody, even after they confessed to being gay. On 6 January 2009, all these men were convicted of "indecent conduct and unnatural acts" (5 years' imprisonment) and for "being members of a criminal group" (3 years' imprisonment). The judge said that AIDES Senegal was a "cover to recruit or organize meetings for homosexuals, under the pretext of providing HIV/AIDS prevention programmes". Shortly thereafter, Imam and Member of Parliament Mbaye Niang organized a march to protest both homosexuality in general and the government intervention that allowed for the release of the men. In January 2009, Cary Alan Johnson at the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission described "pretty consistent human rights violations ... in Senegal". But citing Dakar's recent hosting of a major conference on AIDS and
sexually transmitted infections, where "the needs of men who have sex with men were prominently featured", he said Senegal was schizophrenic in its attitudes. "There's both a movement towards progressive and inclusive culture but at the same time very, very strong movements towards oppression, specifically towards sexuality". In mid-2009 Muslim activists created the "Front islamique pour la defense des valeurs éthiques" (The Islamic Front for the Defense of Ethical Values), advocated for homosexuals to face the death penalty. There were multiple reports around the same time of people digging up the bodies of deceased "goor-gigen" (a Senegalese term for man-woman) in cemeteries.
2011 The
U.S. Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report found that, In the recent past[,] gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons often faced criminal prosecution and widespread discrimination, social intolerance, and acts of violence. The media failed to report acts of hatred or violence against LGBT persons. In November 2010[,]
Human Rights Watch released a report entitled "Fear of Life: Violence against Gay Men and Men Perceived as Gay in Senegal". The report discussed cases of violence against gay men and the legal and cultural milieu that fostered such violence. While the cases cited in the report were from 2009 and earlier, non-governmental organization observers speculated that the drop in cases reported during the year was due to several factors. First, violence against gay men and lesbians might have caused many LGBT persons in the country to go underground. Second, increased international attention might have caused the government to curtail prosecutions and other official discrimination. A report by the
Panos Institute West Africa released on 20 July found that local media contributed to negative societal attitudes toward LGBT persons. Finally, successful legal challenges to the law used to prosecute gays and lesbians for consensual sexual activity may have helped curtail its use by prosecutors.
2012 The
U.S. Department of State's 2012 Human Rights Report found that, LGBT persons often faced arrest, widespread discrimination, social intolerance, and acts of violence [in 2012]. Senegalese ... [non-governmental organizations] worked actively on LGBT rights issues, but because of laws against homosexuality and social stigma, they maintained an exceedingly low profile. The media rarely reported acts of hatred or violence against LGBT persons. ... [L]ocal human rights groups reported that LGBT persons still faced frequent harassment by police, including arrest based only on second-hand reports and poor treatment in detention due to their sexual orientation. In January two women were arrested following the circulation of a cell phone video that showed them kissing. The incident was widely covered in local print and online media. The women were held in detention and released on bail several days later but were never formally charged with a crime. In October a court in Dakar sentenced Tasmir Jupiter Ndiaye to four years in prison and fined him 200,000 CFA francs ($400) for violating laws prohibiting "acts against nature" in addition to charges of illegal possession of arms and battery, after he purportedly refused to pay another man, Matar Diop, for sexual services. Diop was sentenced to three years in prison. In December 2012, a gay male couple was viciously beaten near Dakar by one of the men's parents after the couple was caught having sex.
2013 While visiting Senegal in June, United States President
Barack Obama called for African countries to give gays equal rights under the law. Senegal President
Macky Sall responded by saying that "We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality." He also insisted that the country is "very tolerant" and that, "This does not mean we are homophobic." He said that countries make decisions on complex issues in their own time, noting that Senegal has outlawed capital punishment while other countries have not. He also said that, "Gays are not persecuted, but for now they must accept the choices of other Senegalese." Obama had previously been urged by the human rights group
Amnesty International to use his trip around Africa to speak out against threats to gays and lesbians, which it claimed had reached dangerous levels in Africa.
2018 In September 2018, four people, two men and two women, were arrested in the capital, Dakar, by police for homosexuality after people in their neighbourhood circulated videos of them engaged in sexual acts, as part of pre-election crackdown so politicians don't seem 'pro-homosexual' for the
2019 Senegalese presidential election as local LGBTQ activists said. The arrest came shortly after the conviction in early September of a local chief, Cheikh Abdel Kalifa Karaboué, for drugging and raping a male co-worker. He was sentenced to four years in prison for rape and sexual acts "against nature".
2023 On the 28th of October 2023, in
Kaolack, a group of individuals exhumed the body of Cheikh Fall, a gay man, and subsequently set it on fire. Local law enforcement verified that, on the 30th of October 2023, four individuals believed to be "among the masterminds" were apprehended. Serigne Cheikh Tidiane Khalifa Niasse, leading a regional chapter of the influential Tidianes religious brotherhood, denounced the incidents in Kaolack. And Samm Jikko Yi, an advocacy group pushing for stricter penalties for gay sex, also expressed disapproval of the "mob justice." However, they attributed blame to the Senegalese state, asserting that its perceived over-protection of the LGBTQ community had triggered a backlash. ==Universal Periodic Reviews by the United Nations Human Rights Committee==