Brussels, 17/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 January, MEPs stated in Strasbourg that LGBTI equality is an undeniable element of fundamental human rights. By adopting a resolution, the European Parliament called on the 78 countries that do so “to stop criminalising consensual activities between adults of the same sex, while noting that in seven of them the death penalty is applicable”. The MEPs also call on Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni “to refrain from signing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law”, which he indeed advocated on Friday 17 January, and the MEPS condemned the adoption and signing into law of the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill in Nigeria.
Russia should repeal the law on “non-traditional sexual relations”, and India should continue the legal process for outlawing a colonial-era law concerning homosexuality, say MEPs. The EU should make it clear that such laws “will have significant implications for the relevant countries' bilateral relationship with the EU and its member states”. The European Parliament reiterates that “an explicit mention of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation” should be included in the next revision of the Cotonou Agreement. (SP/transl.fl)