By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RABAT, Morocco – A court in Morocco has sentenced six men to between four and ten months in prison for homosexual conduct.

The men were arrested on November 18, when a private party was organized reportedly to celebrate “gay marriage” in a small city in northern Morocco. This private party was followed by a violent rally against homosexuality in the town five days later. Protesters ravaged the town, including the home of one of the party organizers who fled to the police station.

The court convicted the men for violating Morocco’s penal code, which criminalizes “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex.” It sentenced three defendants to six months, two defendants to four months, and the sixth, who also allegedly sold alcohol illegally, to ten months in prison.

According to lawyers for the defendants, the judge found them guilty even though the prosecution presented no evidence showing the six had engaged in the prohibited conduct. The only evidence submitted to the court was a video – which is circulating online including YouTube – purporting to show the November 18 party. However, the video showed no indications of homosexual activity.

It is a violation of international human rights law to criminalize consensual adult homosexual conduct. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has historically condemned laws against consensual homosexual conduct. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has also held that arrests for consensual homosexual conducts are human rights violations.

For more information, please see:

The Times – Six jailed for homosexuality – 13 December 2007

Human Rights Watch – Overturn verdicts for homosexual conduct – 12 December 2007