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Panama repeals sodomy law |
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Written by Andrew Shaw
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Friday, 15 August 2008 |
 Panama City.
Panamanian President Martín Torrijos Espino signed a decree repealing the 1949 law that criminalised sodomy under penalty of a $500 fine or jail time, reports the San Francisco Bay Times.
The move came after pressure from gay group Association of New Men and Women
(AHMNP) and other human-rights defenders, local media reported.
Earlier this year, gay groups withdrew from Panama’s
Carnival parades after attempts to censor their participation, reported La Prensa de Panamá.
"We do not want to relive the bitter experiences of
last year," said Ricardo Beteta, president of AHMNP, referring to the
banning on "moral grounds" of cross-dressing parade participants last
year.
The decree, issued by the Ministry of Health, said the ban was at odds with the Panamanian Constitution and international human-rights treaties Panama has signed.
It also said the law conflicted with the Health Ministry’s policy to “maintain respect for the sexual preferences of each person, without the existence of any type of discrimination” in the operation of its sexually transmitted diseases programs.
The decree came at the close of the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Speaking at the plenary session, Mexico's Dr Jorge Saavedra Lopez said the criminalisation of MSM activity (Men who have Sex with Men) is a major driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
According to Amnesty International, 11 nations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean continue to ban gay sex: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
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