SUDAN: DEATH PENALTY REMOVED FOR GAY SEX, APOSTASY

July 16, 2020:

The Sudan’s Sovereign Council on 9 July 2020 approved new laws, and passed a package of amendments to the existing ones; these amendments are to reform the justice system in Sudan. Most notably this package of amendments voided; 1) the death penalty for apostasy, 2) crimes of freedom of belief and thought, 3) the practice of repentance for apostates, 4) the authority of the National Security to summon and inspection, 5) death penalty against children and persons over the age of 70, and 6) articles that undermine the human dignity of women; this includes criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation, and recognizing women’s right to accompany their children while traveling outside Sudan without requiring the permission of their fathers.”
As part of those reforms, Article 148 of the 1991 Penal Code (the Sodomy Law) was amended to remove the death penalty and floggings for gay sex.
Under the changes, a penalty of receiving a hundred lashes for gay sex was removed entirely, as was the reference to the death penalty in the third paragraph.
Instead, the Article now subjects queer people to jail time for having gay sex.
Under the amended law, a queer person can be sentenced to up to five years in prison for having gay sex for a first “offence”.
If a person is convicted a second time, the prison sentence can go up to seven years, while a third conviction can earn a lifetime in prison.