The Gambian government has fired back at Western donor nations following the U.S. State Department's condemnation of the West African nation's new law imprisoning citizens for homosexual acts, the Associated Press reports:
The European Union and the United States recently expressed dismay at the law and discrimination against gay people in the West African country. Both provide aid to impoverished Gambia and have used that position to encourage respect for human rights.
The Gambian government will not allow acceptance of gay people to be a pre-condition for receiving aid "no matter how much aid is involved," Foreign Minister Bala Garba Jahumpa said in a nationally televised addressed late Saturday.
"We are no longer going to entertain any dialogue on the issue with the European Union or any other foreign power," he said.
Earlier this month, the AP reported that the new law:
…criminalizes "aggravated homosexuality," which targets "serial offenders" and people living with HIV or AIDS. Suspects can also be charged with aggravated homosexuality for engaging in homosexual acts with someone who is under 18, disabled or who has been drugged. The term also applies when the suspect is the parent or guardian of the other person or is "in authority over" him or her.
