13 Apr 2010

Even after death, abuse against gays continues

To the long list of abuse meted out to suspected homosexuals in Africa, Senegal has added a new form of degradation — the desecration of their bodies.


The father of Madieye Diallo (above) with a photo of son. Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when a mob descended on the cemetery with shovels. They yanked out his corpse, dragged it from the weedy cemetery, spit on its torso and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents. (AP photo via The Washington Post)

The Associated Press reports (via The Washington Post):

Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more.

Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.

The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals.

"I locked myself inside my room and didn't come out for days," says a 31-year-old gay friend of Diallo's who is ill with HIV. "I'm afraid of what will happen to me after I die. Will my parents be able to bury me?"

A wave of intense homophobia is washing across Africa, where homosexuality is already illegal in at least 37 countries.

Senegal