Posted on 04/03/2014 5:04:31 PM PDT by Viennacon
Ethiopia's lawmakers are set to pass a bill that puts homosexuality on a list of offenses considered "non-pardonable" under the country's amnesty law, a measure that continues a trend of anti-gay legislation across Africa.
The bill, endorsed last week by Ethiopia's Cabinet, is widely expected to pass when lawmakers put it to a vote next week.
Homosexuality is criminalized in 38 African countries, about 70 percent of the continent, according to Amnesty International. Uganda and Nigeria have recently strengthened criminal penalties against homosexuals.
In Ethiopia, same-sex acts are illegal and punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A 25-year jail term is also prescribed for anyone convicted of infecting another person with HIV during same-sex acts.
Ethiopia's president often pardons thousands of prisoners during the Ethiopian New Year. If the bill becomes law, the president will lose his power to pardon prisoners who faced charges ranging from homosexuality to terrorism.
Tiruneh Zena, the head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, said a presidential pardon is a privilege and not a right, the reason be believes the bill is not harmful to the lives of homosexuals.
"I won't say the proposed law is not a cause of concern but I don't think the law will affect the LGBT community in a serious way," he said.
Homosexuality is largely a taboo subject in Ethiopia, ignored even by known rights groups, but the legislation under consideration suggests anti-gay sentiment may be spreading in this Horn of Africa nation
Zenebu Tadesse, Ethiopia's minister for women, children, and youth affairs, was criticized on social media last month for a Twitter post that appeared to slam Uganda for enacting a severe anti-gay law.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Yet the genius “Journ-O-List” authoring this article fails to mention at all AID/HIV which everyone with a brain knows has devastated Africa.
But hey, it’s “just another lifestyle” . . . why let a little death pain and suffering get in the way of your pandering PC world ABC?
If they did, they would state, correctly, that the epidemic has little to do with homosexuality.
Oh? So all this momentum in our countries to outlaw or restrict homosexuality is for moral reasons, not for public health?
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