ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2012

Mozambique
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Illegal
Penal Code of September 16, 1886, as amended in 1954 (Inherited from the Portuguese colonial era) 157
Articles 70 and 71 impose security measures on people who habitually practice acts against the order of
nature. The security measures include: confinement in criminal mental hospitals or labor camps (from 6
months to 3 years), as well as have their freedom restricted (from 2 to 5 years) or the exercise of their
profession interrupted (minimum of 10 months and maximum of 10 years), under the supervision of a
probation officer.
Namibia
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Legal
Sodomy remains a crime in Nambia according to the Roman-Dutch common-law, which was imposed by
the South Africans. Common-law is a legal tradition based mainly on precedent court verdicts, while there is
no codified sodomy provision in Namibia. 158
Nigeria
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Ilegal
Criminal Code Act, Chapter 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 159
Section 214. “Any person who-
(1) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or
(2) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or
(3) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature;
is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.”
Section 215. “Any person who attempts to commit any of the offences defined in the last preceding section is
guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years. The offender cannot be arrested without
warrant.”
Section 217. “Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with
another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or
attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male
person, whether in public or private, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years. The
offender cannot be arrested without warrant.”
Note that several Northern Nigerian states have adopted Islamic Sharia laws, criminalising sexual activities
between persons of the same sex. The maximum penalty for such acts between men is death penalty, while
the maximum penalty for such acts between women is a whipping and/or imprisonment. These laws differ
from the federal law, as most of these prohibit also sexual relations between women. 160
157 Text of the law is available at :
http://www.portaldogoverno.gov.mz/Legisla/legisSectores/judiciaria/codigo_penal.pdf.
158 Human Rights Watch (2003), p. 265-266.
159 Text of the law is available at: http://www.nigeria-law.org/Criminal%20Code%20Act-Tables.htm.
160 See Alok Gupta, This Alien Legacy – The Origins of “Sodomy” Laws in British Colonialism, New York: Human Rights
Watch 2008 (available at www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy-0, p. 60-61) and ‘Sharia Implementation
in Northern Nigeria 1999-2006: A Sourcebook’ (available at: www.sharia-in-africa.net/pages/publications/shariaimplementation-in-northern-nigeria.php).
State-Sponsored Homophobia – May 2011
ILGA – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association - www.ilga.org
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