29/11/2023
The Peter Tatchell Foundation for Human Rights reports that the Supreme Court of the State of Mauritius has legalised same sex relationships, after the Supreme Court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex intimacy was ‘discriminatory’ and ‘unconstitutional’. The case was brought by Abdool Ridwan Firaas Ah Seek, the president of the local LGBT+ organisation Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, with support from the Human Dignity Trust in London. Abdool sought to challenge the constitutionality of Section 250 of the Mauritian Criminal Code, a colonial-era provision that criminalised consensual adult same-sex relations, punishable by up to five years in prison. In its judgment, delivered on Wednesday, the Supreme Court emphasised that Mauritius is a democratic secular state, finding no justifiable reason for the state to intrude into the private lives of LGBT+ individuals. The judges further acknowledged that the plaintiff’s sexual orientation is “natural and innate… cannot be altered and is a natural variant of his sexuality.” Mauritius is an island state in the Indian Ocean, situated over a thousand miles from the coast of South Eastern Africa. It was first colonised by arabian explorers in around the year 975 CE but has been conquered and occupied repeatedly over many centuries. Owing to its geographic location and centuries of colonialism, the people of Mauritius are highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. According to Wikipedia It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practiced religion. The territory, which consists of a large island surrounded by smaller satellites, is also considered a success story compared with many of mainland Africa's failed states. It has a functioning Parliamentary democracy and has enjoyed a peaceful rule of law for decades. The Global Peace Index which is produced annually by a respected independent think tank, lists Mauritius as the most peaceful state in Africa, and it is also way and above the United Kingdom in terms of its level of social harmony.
