A colonial-era legislation that made same-sex relationships illegal has been declared unlawful in Mauritius, according to a Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report.
The 1898-era Section 250 of the Mauritian Criminal Code was declared unlawful by the nation's Supreme Court. The statute had imposed a five-year prison sentence on anybody found guilty of having same-sex relationships. The decision to repeal the anti-homosexuality statute was made in response to a legal challenge filed by four young Mauritanians in October 2019 who said the ban "violated their fundamental rights and freedom".
The verdict received praise from the UN and other human rights organizations, Jerry Chifamba writes for allAfrica.