MALIAN POLICE PREVENT MEETING OF HOMOSEXUALS IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000317 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KISL ML SUBJECT: MALIAN POLICE PREVENT MEETING OF HOMOSEXUALS IN BAMAKO REF: 05 BAMAKO 00960 ¶1. Summary: On April 13 Malian police prevented a gay and lesbian group from holding a meeting on the margins of an HIV/AIDS conference supported by a local NGO in Bamako. Although police dissuaded the group from meeting, erroneous local newspaper reports to the contrary prompted a group of senior Malian Imams to petition the Malian government to officially annul a conference which in fact never took place. This is the first time Malian officials have interceded to prevent a homosexual group from meeting since 2005 when Natie Plea, then Governor of Bamako and now Minister of Defense, refused to recognize a homosexual association based on an August 2004 law banning the creation of any association deemed contrary to morality (reftel). Police efforts to prevent the meeting, the Malian media's misleading characterization of the April 13 event, and the strange demand of Malian Muslim leaders highlight homosexuals' precarious status in an otherwise tolerant nation. End Summary. -------------- Misleading Malian Media Accounts -------------- ¶2. At least two Malian newspapers reported on the involvement of a gay and lesbian group in an April 13 HIV/AIDS conference at the Olympe Hotel in Bamako. On April 16 the newspaper Le Malien falsely reported, under the headline "Satan at the Olympe Hotel," that police had arrested 30 homosexuals, including individuals from Mali, Senegal, Congo, Cameroon and elsewhere, who were attending the April 13 conference. The newspaper claimed Malian authorities were particularly concerned by the potential involvement of several Senegalese gay and lesbian activists who, according to Le Malien, had previously attempted but failed to organize a similar conference in Dakar. Le Malien praised the "excellent" performance of the Malian police force in preventing the gay and lesbian group from meeting in Mali. ¶3. On April 20 the opposition newspaper Info Matin presented a dramatically different account of the April 13 incident which criticized local police for allowing a "Conference of Homosexuals" to occur. According to Info Matin, Malian police were on site at the Olympe not to break up the event but to provide security for the conference. Info Matin lamented the failure of the police to break up the gathering, noting that Malian authorities must have known about the existence of the gathering as Muslim leaders had complained to authorities in advance. -------------- The Police Version -------------- ¶4. According to Malian police, the HIV/AIDS workshop at the Olympe was organized by a local NGO, Arcade SIDA, which conducts outreach campaigns to at risk individuals regardless of sexual orientation. Police admitted that a group of Malian homosexuals had tried to organize a meeting on the margins of the Arcade SIDA event and that police pressure effectively prevented this meeting from taking place. Police did not provide information on tactics used to prevent this group from meeting. Police did note, however, that no arrests were made. -------------- Imams Try to Turn Back Time -------------- ¶5. The official police version of the incident at the Olympe has apparently not yet reached leaders of a local group known as the Malian League of Imams and Erudites for Islamic Solidarity. On May 16 this group, led by High Council of Islam president Mahmoud Dicko, issued a declaration calling on the Malian government to formally condemn "such dishonorable horror happening on Malian soil." Imam Dicko added that there is no room for debate on homosexuality in Mali and asked the government to retroactively "annul" the conference to remove any trace of the conference's existence from Malian history. According to the Malian newspaper Nouvel Horizon, Imam Dicko subsequently raised this subject with President Amadou Toumani Toure. -------------- Comment: The Limits of Malian Tolerance -------------- ¶6. Malian culture is known for its tolerance of others. This tradition informs Malian Islamic practices as well, and leaders of Mali's majority Sufi and minority al-Sunna (or BAMAKO 00000317 002 OF 002 Wahhabi) communities frequently speak up in favor of tolerance, moderation, and acceptance. This tolerance, however, does not extend to homosexuality, as official and societal discrimination continues to prevent Malian homosexuals from organizing or meeting openly. MILOVANOVIC