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Taroudante – The Spanish LGBT association “Lambda DDHH Valencia,” has recently launched a campaign on twitter with the hashtag #stop489 to call for decriminalizing homosexuality in Morocco.
In Morocco, the penal code prohibits homosexuality as a criminal offense. Such illegal activity that can be punishable by 6 months to 3 years of imprisonment, as well as a fine of MAD 120 to MAD 1200.
After the circulation of a video online in which two men who were perceived to be a homosexual couple were assaulted and forced them to go home naked, Lamba DDHH Valencia, as well as other international human rights organizations, raised concerns on the right of homosexuals in Morocco.
The Spanish LGBT association said that “many organizations, international associations and groups have denounced the cruelty that demonstrates Moroccan society against the LGBT community,” particularly “the total lack of humanity on the part of the Moroccan justice that sentenced the victims and let the perpetrators go unpunished.”
According to Moroccan media, the two attackers were sentenced to two months of suspension. One of the victims, conversely, was sentenced to four months in prison.
Lamba DDHH Valencia added that, “homophobia is lived every day in Moroccan streets. Homosexuals are forced to conceal their sexual orientation and many suffer from attacks by those around them, including their families.” The organization also noted that many Moroccans will flee to Spain in order to find “the freedom to love.”
“We meet a lot of men and Moroccan women who come to hide from the homophobia and are seeking a place where they feel safe to be themselves and love who they want to love,” the association said.
Other organizations and civil society movements such as the “Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles” (MALI) and “Aswat” denounced this act of severe aggression towards the homosexual couple, demanding an immediate legal investigation.
