Following yesterday's news on RFI:
RFK Center
RFK Center urges Chad to reject anti-LGBT revisions to penal code
Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, today urged Idriss Déby, the president of Chad, to reject proposed changes to the nation's penal code that would criminalize LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people. The changes, approved by Chad's cabinet, now await approval from the parliament and President Déby.
"By criminalizing homosexuality, Chad's proposed penal code is an instrument of discrimination, not of justice," said Kerry Kennedy. "I urge President Déby and the Chadian parliament to reject any attempts to make prejudice the law of the land."
"The principle of nondiscrimination is enshrined in all human rights instruments signed and ratified by the Chadian government," said Santiago A. Canton, Executive Director of RFK Partners for Human Rights. “The proposed changes to Chad’s penal code show total disregard for the country’s international obligations."
The RFK Center has worked closely with LGBT rights advocates in Africa and throughout the world for several years, most notably with 2011 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate Frank Mugisha in Uganda, where a high court recently overturned that country's Anti-Homosexuality Act.
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Media Contact
Jeffrey Smith
Africa Advocacy Officer
Tel: (202) 463-7575
smith@rfkcenter.org
Twitter: @Smith_RFKennedy
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