New York, 1 June 2016 – Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) commends the work of Hon. Wilby Lucas, MP and the National Assembly of the Republic of Seychelles, for passing an amendment to section 151 of the Penal Code decriminalizing unnatural offenses specified in paragraph (a) and (c), an offense punishable with up to 14 years in prison.

On May 18, fourteen lawmakers voted in favor of the proposal to amend Section 151, while fourteen abstained and four others were absent.

Noting the relevance of the amendment of section 151, Honorable Lucas, a PGA Member, noted that:

In February of this year the President of the Republic announced that the Government would propose the amendment to the Parliament to decriminalize the provision in our Penal Code. Following this announcement, we received positive and negative reactions from different groups including religious groups. The National Television held a public debate with participation of different organizations such as churches, politicians, journalists, civil society and gays.

On the part of Parliament we drew the attention of the Government for consultation before the bill could be considered. As Parliamentarians we held two public meetings and sought the views of the public. The outcome was more or less positive and subsequently the bill was debated and approved with some of the MPs abstaining.

Our society feels that the remaining provisions under section 151 in our Penal Code could not be maintained in light of our constitutional and international obligations.

 

With this legislative reform, the Republic of Seychelles breaks off from the other 74 countries, which still criminalize same-sex acts, becoming one of the few countries in Africa to remove discriminatory legislation against LGBTI people.¹

^{1. International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association: Carroll, A., State Sponsored Homophobia 2016: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: criminalisation, protection and recognition (Geneva; ILGA, May 2016), p. 28.}