The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, revealed on Saturday via the social platform X that Paris is advancing a draft resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council. This resolution aims to prohibit states from criminalizing LGBT+ individuals. France’s diplomatic move comes just two months after Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye enacted legislation that significantly stiffens penalties for homosexuality, a development underscored by the current detention of a French national in Dakar under the new law. This reflects a key aspect of Sahel current affairs.

“You can rely on France: it works, and will always work, to advance the human rights agenda,” stated the head of French diplomacy. He pointed to a “conservative surge” that appears to be gaining traction across most global regions over the past decade.

Diplomatic engagement intensifies following the march 11 legislation

The new legislation, passed by the Senegalese National Assembly on March 11, 2026, with a unanimous 135 votes and subsequently promulgated on March 30, dramatically increases the maximum prison sentence for “acts against nature” from five to ten years. It also escalates the fine ceiling tenfold, now set at ten million CFA francs. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko championed the bill as a measure of national sovereignty, which notably criminalizes the promotion, support, or financing of homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality.

Previously, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk had urged Dakar to refrain from enacting the law, asserting that it violated Senegal’s international commitments. On April 16, Pascal Confavreux, spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs), conveyed Paris’s deep concern, noting that Minister Barrot had addressed the matter directly with his Senegalese counterpart, Cheikh Niang, during a meeting at the French Foreign Ministry.

French national detained in Dakar

A French citizen has been held in detention in Senegal since February 14 on charges related to the recently enacted legislation. The French consulate in Dakar has visited the individual four times, and the Quai d’Orsay confirms it remains in contact with the family. Separately, on April 10, a Dakar court sentenced a young Senegalese man, born in 2002, to six years in prison for similar offenses. This situation highlights the realities on the ground in Sahel nations.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that 62 nations worldwide continue to criminalize consensual homosexual relations, with eleven of these imposing the death penalty. As of now, the specific date for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to review France’s proposed resolution has not been announced.