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Death penalty and LGBTQIA+ rights: 10 questions to understand the threat of capital punishment for LGBTQIA+ people

Publication
June 2023
As part of its "Love is not a crime" campaign, ECPM is publishing a new issue of the "10 questions to understand..." series with 10 questions to understand the death penalty for LGBTQIA+ people (2022): at that date in the world, 11 countries were sentencing LGBTQIA+ people to death because of their gender or sexual orientation. In 2023, Uganda joined this list by ratifying the "anti-homosexuality law" making "aggravated" homosexual relations punishable by death. The list thus extended to 12 countries on May 29, 2023.
Data dates back to 2022. Since May 29, 2023, Uganda has joined the list of countries condemning LGBTQIA+ people to death for a certain category of crimes.
Overview of the death penalty
10 questions on the death penalty for LGBTQIA+ people (2022)
June 2023
Illustration : Marty Planchais

In this report, written by Céline Martin (international consultant on LGBTQIA+ issues), ECPM analyses the links between gender, sexual orientation and the death penalty to explore the discrimination suffered by people belonging to sexual minorities from a legal point of vue.

This dossier enables the general public to better understand the complex legislation of countries applying the death penalty for consensual same-sex relations, which have historical, religious or morality-based particularities imposed by the government in power.

You’ll find 10 questions based on testimonies, key concepts, legal articles and international mechanisms deciphered to enable as many people as possible to use this report as a tool to inform and raise awareness of the threat posed by the death penalty to LGBTQIA+ communities when it is enshrined in a country’s penal code.

  • Pourquoi la question de la peine de mort et des personnes LGBTQIA+ est-elle importante ?
  • Quels sont les États qui appliquent la peine de mort pour les personnes LGBTQIA+ et en vertu de quelle législation ?
  • Quelle est l’origine de l’application de la peine de mort pour les personnes LGBTQIA+ ?
  • Que dit le droit international sur l’application de la peine de mort pour les personnes LGBTQIA+ ?
  • Combien de personnes LGBTQIA+ se trouvent actuellement dans le couloir de la mort en raison de leur sexualité ?
  • Quels sont les principaux risques encourus par les personnes LGBTQIA+ condamnées à mort ?
  • La question de la peine de mort et des personnes LGBTQIA+ est-elle traitée par les Nations unies ?
  • Les mécanismes régionaux de défense des droits humains ont-ils un rôle à jouer ?
  • Qu’en est-il des autres pays qui érigent en infractions les relations homosexuelles et le travestissement ?
  • Quels risques encourent les ressortissants étrangers dans un État qui applique la peine de mort pour les personnes LGBTQIA+ ?

ECPM strongly condemns the international news discriminating LGBTQIA+ people: ratification of the anti-homosexuality law in Uganda in May 2023, refusal to receive Jean-Marc Berthon (French ambassador for the rights of LGBT people) in Cameroon, legal vagueness over the criminalisation of discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in Japan, and death sentences against LGBTQIA+ activists in Iran at the end of 2022, to name but a few. ECPM calls on all countries to respect everyone’s sexual freedom.

Voir notre campagne « S’aimer n’est pas un crime »