Tunesien: Islamisten gegen Schwulenrechte

In Tunesien demonstrierten kürzlich Tausende von Islamisten gegen die geplanten Reform der repressiven Gesetzgebung gegen Homosexuelle:

Thousands of Muslim fundamentalists protested Saturday [Aug. 11] in front of the nation’s parliament to decry proposals in a government report on gender equality that they claim are contrary to Islam.

Men and veiled women marched under a blazing sun from Tunis to Bardo, outside the capital where the parliament is located, to protest the report by the Commission of Individual Liberties and Equality. The report, among other things, calls for legalizing homosexuality — now punishable with three years in prison — and giving the sexes equal inheritance rights. Men now receive double the inheritance of women.

The commission was put in place a year ago by President Beji Caid Essebsi, who is expected to speak about it on Monday [Aug. 13], Women’s Day in Tunisia. It was not immediately clear whether the proposals would eventually be put before parliament.

The protest was organized by the National Coordination for the Defense of the Koran, the Constitution and Equitable Development, and protesters defended a literal reading of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

Derweil unterstützen verschiedene Menschenrechtsorganisationen die Gesetzesänderungen in einem offenen Brief an den den tunesischen Präsidenten:

President Beji Caid Essebsi, we are calling on you to seize this significant opportunity to introduce legislation that would abolish Article 230 of the Tunisian Penal Code and prohibit anal testing.

This legislation is key to meet the requirements of the 27 January 2014 Constitution of Tunisia and to harmonize its legislation with international human rights standards.