According to La Nouvelle Lettre de la FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights Leagues), homosexuals in Niger do not reveal their sexual orientation and have never publicly asserted their rights (Oct. 2002, 15). However, [translation] "two or three gay associations exist, though their locations are unknown" (La Nouvelle Lettre de la FIDH Oct. 2002, 15). Still according to the same source, the secretary for external relations of the Niger Association for the Defence of Human Rights (Association nigérienne de défense des droits de l'Homme, ANDDH) noted that, despite the tolerance that exists in Nigerois society, [translation] "homosexuals live in the closet, like people with HIV/AIDS. They do not want people to know that they are homosexuals because homosexuality is taboo and culturally unacceptable" (ibid.).

According to an article published on Behind the Mask (BTM), a Website for gays and lesbians in Africa, "the Niger penal code has little to say on homosexuality ... aside from the laws against 'public indecency'" (19 Nov. 2002). The articles relating to public indecency from Niger's 1993 Penal Code are reproduced in full below:

[translation]

Article 275

Public indecency consists of any material act that affronts public decency and is committed under conditions such that the act was witnessed by, or could have been witnessed by, a third person who may have found it offensive.

Article 276

Every person who commits an act of public indecency shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three months to three years and a fine of not less than 10,000 francs and not more than 100,000 francs.

Indecent assault:

Article 277

Indecent assault means any act committed with impunity directly against another person of either sex.

Lewd act with a minor of the same sex:

Article 282

Every person who commits a lewd act or an act against nature with a minor of the same sex, whose age is less than twenty-one years, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and a fine of not less than 10,000 francs and not more than 100,000 francs.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Behind the Mask (BTM). 19 November 2002. Henk Krol. "Between Hope and Fear: A Gay Refugee from Niger Has a Tough Time Proving that his Life Is in Danger in the Islamic Country of his Birth." http://www.q.co.za/2001/2002/11/19-niger.html [Accessed 6 May 2003]

Niger. 1993. Niger Penal Code, Articles 275 to 277 and 282. (Published on the Behind the Mask Website, "Niger : Code pénal du NIGER de 1993.") http://www.Mask.org.za/SECTIONS/AfricaPerCountry/ABC/niger/niger%20french1.htm [Accessed 6 May 2003]

La Nouvelle Lettre de la FIDH. October 2002. No. 60. "Afrique/liberté et homosexualité : l'exclusion au nom des moeurs tabous!"

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