The European Union’s representative in Liberia, Laurent Delahousse, has called on the authorities here to relax laws that he said suppressed civil liberties such as a ban on same-sex marriages.
Speaking at a human rights forum, the EU envoy also asked the government to ‘take immediate action to issue an executive order’ banning female genital mutilation and other harmful traditional practices.
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According to him, ‘the penal code of Liberia continues to criminalise’ consensual sexual relationships by same-sex couples, something he argued violates international laws protecting the social rights of LGBT individuals.
There has been no reaction from the Liberian authorities but sodomy is a crime under the law.
Governments coming to power in Liberia have always avoided tackling deep-rooted traditional practices such as FGM for fear of getting into a confrontation with rural populations involved in those practices.