Gambia: President should disavow reported homophobic threats

President Yahya Jammeh’s reported threats to expel or kill lesbian and gay people not only encourage hatred, but also contribute to a climate in which basic rights can be assaulted with impunity, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the president. Human Rights Watch called on Jammeh to completely disavow all such statements, and to work toward repealing the country’s colonial-era sodomy law, which allows arbitrary and discriminatory arrests and invasion of privacy.