Compiled by Richard Ammon GlobalGayz.com February 2012 Introduction The news from Eritrea is not good in general and worse for LGBT citizens. Homosexual acts are illegal in Eritrea. Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited in Section II of the penal code from 1960. Article 600 “unnatural carnal offences” can be punished for internment for between 10
Ethiopia annexed Eritrea in 1962 which caused a 31-year long war against successive Ethiopian governments that ended in 1991. The U.N. brokered peace has been fractured since then but an uneasy peace generally exists. Eritrea’s economic future remains mixed. The cessation of Ethiopian trade, which mainly used Eritrean ports before the war, leaves Eritrea with a large economic hole to fill. Homosexual acts are prohibited by law in Eritrea. According to section II of the penal code from 1960 “unnatural carnal offenses” can be punished by internment for between 10 days and 3 years.
Name: Eritrea
Population: 3850000
Capital: Asmara - Pop. 580000
Area: 117600 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: English (government, schools), local dialects
Religion: Coptic Orthodox Christianity and Islam
Status of Homosexuality: Illegal
Telephone Country Code: 291