History of homosexuality (Part V)

Let me premise this article with the statement that I am a heterosexual and happily married for the past 36 years with two daughters and five grandchildren.

This article is about some countries that forbid homosexuality and severely punish those who participate in homosexual acts.

Sudan

This is one country that uses stoning as part of their punishment for homosexual behavior, particularly against women. Lesbian women in Sudan are given thousands of lashes on their very first offense and then they are stoned to death. They are buried up to their neck in the ground while being pelted with stones on their heads until they are dead.

Here is what the law in Sudan states about sodomy practiced by gay men.

Article 148. (1) There shall be deemed to commit sodomy, every man who penetrates his glans, or the equivalent thereof, in the anus of another man's, or permits another man to penetrate his glans, or its equivalent, in his anus.

(2)(a) whoever commits the offence of sodomy shall be punished, with whipping a hundred lashes, and he may also be punished with imprisonment for a term, not exceeding five years;

(b) where the offender is convicted for the second time, he shall be punished, with whipping a hundred lashes, and with imprisonment, for a term, not exceeding five years;

(c) where the offender is convicted for the third time, he shall be punished, with death, or with life imprisonment.

It would appear that Gay life in Sudan is virtually non-existent although that is highly unlikely. That is probably because it is done in extreme secrecy considering the punishment given to them if they are caught, from an observer’s eye. Nevertheless, a gay-focused website was launched in December 2006 called Freedom Sudan-the Sudanese LGBT Association. That takes a lot of courage to publish a website in Sudan considering the consequences gays and lesbian face in that country. The publishers and writers of that website hope that one day they will get accepted in their communities and even by their families, and hope that that can be free to participate in homosexual practices without having to be subjected to the consequences currently in force.

Yemen

Homosexuality in this conservative Arab state is considered a taboo and Yemen’s main religion, Islam, denounces homosexuality. Punishment ranges from flogging homosexuals to executing them. Yemen is one of only seven countries to apply a death penalty for consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex. 

Homosexuality is something of a tradition in backward Yemen, where Bedouin herdsmen roam the rocky hills for months on end with only each other and their animals for company. Male brothels flourish in San'a, the capital, and the late Imam Ahmad, who ruled the country for 14 years before his death in 1962, established an international reputation for overzealous camaraderie.

But times had changed. In August 1966, a Moslem religious court convicted Ahmed el Osamy, a 60-year-old government worker who ran one of San'a's top boydellos, (Bordellos where boys prostitute themselves) of being a practicing pederast (child molester), and sentenced him to death. Yemen still has the death penalty of homosexuals who practice homosexuality.

In January 2009, A Yemeni court convicted three journalists for publicly discussing homosexuality. The court ruled that an article in the Arabic-language newspaper The Week in March 2003, included interviews with men jailed for homosexuality, had violated Yemeni morals and customs.

The Mujahideen (Muslims who believe they struggle in the path of God.) were killing young people in Ja’ar on suspicion of sexual irregularities.  On December 28, 2008 Saeed Abdullah was a young 22-year-old Hanan shot dead by the Mujahideen in the city of Abyan province Ja’ar. The victim was the third young man is killed by Mujahideen militants in the street in front of Central Market, Ja’ar. He was killed on allegations that the young man was gay.

Afghanistan

Under its harsh interpretation of Sharia, (Islamic law) by the Taliban, homosexuals were crushed to death by having walls toppled on them, although Afghans say closet gay relationships remained widespread. Two men were executed for sodomy in the western Afghanistan province of Herat. The condemned men Bismellah, age 22, and Abdul Sami, age 18, had a stone wall bulldozed onto them in a traditional Islamic method of executions used only for sodomy convictions. The two men, said to have confessed freely, died. I hardly think that their confessions were given freely. The Taliban ordered the execution of three men for sodomy in the southern town of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. They were ordered to be buried alive under a pile of stones and a wall was pushed on top of them by a tank. If the condemned men were alive after 30 minutes, they were set free.

Afghan officials have currently said that although homosexuality remains a crime, it no longer brings the brutal punishment handed out under the Taliban before its ouster in 2001.

An American adviser to the Afghan government was arrested in September 2004 in the capital for allegedly having homosexual relations with an Afghan man. The penalty is a jail term of 5-15 years if he was convicted.

Somalia

Somali culture is influenced by a range of factors. However, religion and more specifically, Islam, plays a key role in the Somalian way of life. Religion is the starting point of Somali family structure and organization, thus homosexuality is considered by many of those who are Muslims as being fruitless and a mortal sin. For this reason, Somalia maintains criminal sanctions against sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex.

Gay and Lesbian Somalians who are in Somalia have no official recognition and live under a constant cloud of fear, as homosexuality is often punished with lashings, being ostracized from families and communities and even death. Many flee their homes to escape possible torture or ‘honour killings’.

The Penal Code, Decree No. 5/1962 in Somalia provides:

Article 409 Homosexuality—Whoever (a) has carnal intercourse (b) with a person of the same sex shall be punished, where the act does not constitute a more serious crime, with imprisonment from three months to three years.

Article 410:  Security Measures ―A security measure may be added to a sentence for crimes referred to in Articles 407, 408, and 409.

In southern parts of Somalia, Sharia law may allow punishing homosexual acts with the death penalty or by flogging. The executions are carried out by hanging on the gallows. Stoning to death is used in cases of sex crimes and crimes against chastity such as rape, adultery, and sodomy.

This is my final instalment on the subject of History of Homosexuality. I want to add however that in my opinion, it is conceivable that as the years move on in this century, many of these countries that punish homosexuals will eventually leave them alone unless they molest children. If they stop punishing people because of their homosexuality, then it will be a big step for these backward countries that flout human rights, to move in the direction the rest of decent society is currently at.