DISCLOSED: The Samoa Agreement’s 39 anti-LGBTQ+ signatory nations, which include an Islamic republic
Did Nigeria, by joining the Samoa Agreement, endorse same-sex marriage?
Ever since the nation signed the accord in Brussels, Belgium on June 28, that has been the main question.
The Samoa Agreement serves as the main foundation for European Union (EU) ties with African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) nations, according to the European Council.
Signed on November 15, 2023, the foundation agreement became operative on January 1, 2024, providing a new legal framework for
EU ties with the 79 nations that make up the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS). The first 20 years of it will be its duration.
According to checks conducted by TheCable, numerous ACP countries—including Nigeria—refused to sign the document because it
mentioned sexual orientation and gender identity, which are often perceived to constitute LGBTQ+ rights.
The sides agreed to “promote, protect and fulfil all human rights be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural” as part of a settlement.
The Beijing Platform on gender equality, the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action on sexual and
reproductive health and rights, and their follow-up are among the international agreements that the parties are asked to commit to implementing (negotiated agreement, Article 36).
The six main areas covered by the accord are migration and mobility, human and social development, climate change, migration and mobility, and democracy and human rights.
The Lomé Convention and the Cotonou Agreement, which were signed in 1975 and 2000, respectively, came before the Samoa Agreement.
SIGNATORIES OF SAMOA AGREEMENT
The Samoa Agreement is ratified by 48 African nations, 16 Caribbean nations, and 15 Pacific nations, collectively housing almost two billion people.
Africa
African nations: South Africa, Angola, Cape Verde, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros,
Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea,
Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,
Uganda, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Chad, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The Antilles
The following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Christophe and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines
The Pacific
Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
THE LGBTQ+ DISPUTE
The 2014 Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) in Nigeria outlaws civil unions and same-sex marriages, as well as the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
What caused the commotion after Nigeria signed the Samoa Agreement was the country’s legal stance on same-sex unions.
A media source on Thursday asserted that certain provisions of the accord require undeveloped and underdeveloped countries to back the calls for recognition made by LGBTQ+ individuals.
The falsity of the assertions has been proven.
Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris explained that the federal government made sure the deal did not violate the 1999 Constitution (as modified) or other laws that were now in effect.
In response to allegations that the deal condoneses same-sex marriage, the administration has clarified that the arrangement is solely for the nation’s economic development.
OTHERS THAT SIGNED THE SAMOA AGREEMENT BUT ARE ANTI-LGBT
The Samoa Agreement includes nations with anti-LGBTQ legislation among its signatories, including those with an Islamic legal system or a predominately Muslim populace.
They joined the Samoa Agreement because, like Nigeria, they do not endorse same-sex marriage; if they did, they would not have required LGBTQ+ rights.
Samoa, the host nation of the foundation conference and the name of the pact, outlaws sodomy, or same-sex relationships between men.
More than thirty African nations forbid consenting same-sex relationships.
According to a study by TheCable, at least 39 signatories are against LGBTQ+ issues, and some do not have a clear legal stance.
Among the 79 signatories are Muslim-majority nations that have outlawed homosexual relationships: Sudan, Somalia, Mauritania, Comoros, Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
For example, Somalia’s penal code stipulates a mandatory three-year prison sentence, or the death penalty in accordance with Sharia law.
Uganda approved a law in April 2024 that permits the death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality” and ten years in prison for same-sex relationships.
Same-sex relationships are forbidden in the Muslim nation of Mauritania by the penal code, which also makes “acts against nature” illegal.
The clause, which has its roots in Islamic law, imposes a maximum penalty of one year in prison for women and two years in death for men.
Same-sex relationships are forbidden in Sudan, a strict Muslim nation, per the 1991 penal code, which carries a possible life sentence.
Until 2020, when it was loosened, the legislation permitted the death sentence and the practice of flogging.
The laws of Comoros, an East African nation influenced by French, Islamic, and customary law, forbid same-sex marriage and impose a fine and five years in prison as punishment.
The fact that many nations—including Nigeria—have criminalized LGBTQ+ sexual interactions while still signing the Samoa pact lends more support to the argument that the pact does not require them to adopt a pro-LGBTQ+ stance.
It’s important to remember that some of the signatory nations have legalized same-sex unions through laws or court rulings.
Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, and Cuba are among the nations involved.
