Senegal Forces Accused of Forcing HIV Tests on LGBT Detainees as Positive Results Lead to More Charges

Senegalese security forces have tested people arrested for same-sex conduct for HIV without their informed consent and used positive results to bring additional criminal charges, according to Human Rights Watch.

The findings, published on Monday 12 October 2026, describe a crackdown in which hundreds of people have reportedly been arrested since February, as Senegal expanded its laws criminalising same-sex conduct.

Detainees told the group of beatings, pressure to give up their right to a lawyer and apparent leaks of confidential case details to the press. The group said it had received no response to a letter setting out its findings by the time of publication.

Tests Without Consent

Most of those detained were reportedly tested for HIV without informed consent, Human Rights Watch said. People who tested positive were charged with 'deliberate HIV transmission' and 'endangering the lives of others', in addition to offences under article 319 of the penal code, which criminalises same-sex conduct.

The gendarmerie in Keur Massar, which RADDHO said was responsible for most of the arrests, officially stated that it required HIV tests for people it detained. The national police also tested detainees and used the results, according to a police statement on 13 June.

Under article 36 of Senegal's 2010 HIV/AIDS law, a person who knowingly lives with HIV and has unprotected sex may face five to 10 years in prison and a fine.

In all, 82 people were charged with 'voluntary HIV transmission', according to Human Rights Watch. A court dismissed those charges in August, although many defendants still faced other charges.

Health workers say the testing has driven people away from care. One doctor told the group that a third of the patients they saw for HIV treatment were no longer attending appointments. Senegal's health ministry and its National Council for the Fight Against AIDS issued statements in February stressing that medical and judicial records should be kept separate, and UNAIDS called in March for medical confidentiality to be protected.

Hundreds Arrested Since February

The wave of arrests began on 9 February, when 12 men were detained in Dakar and charged with offences including 'acts against nature' and 'intentional transmission of HIV'. Arrests then spread to Thiès, Rosso, Saint-Louis, Yeumbeul and Ziguinchor.

Between February and July, the Senegalese rights group RADDHO counted 212 arrests, while the HIV Justice Network reported more than 300.

Human Rights Watch said it could not verify the total. In July, eight women were arrested and placed in pretrial detention after data from the phones of two of them was used to identify the others.

Security officials said the arrests were based on seized phones, third-party allegations, and raids. The 101st suspect, arrested on 25 June, was identified from a phone seized from one of the original 12 men.

'Detentions, violence, and abuse against LGBT individuals have sharply increased across the country,' said Mouhamadou Seck, secretary general of RADDHO.

A Harsher Law

Senegal has criminalised same-sex conduct for decades under article 319 of its penal code. On 11 March 2026, a month after the first arrests, parliament voted 135 to 0, with three abstentions, to amend the article, doubling the maximum prison term to 10 years and setting fines of 2 million to 10 million CFA francs, about £2,600 to £13,000 ($3,000 to $17,000).

The amendment created new offences of 'promotion' of homosexuality and of supporting or financing LGBT people or organisations, punishable by up to seven years in prison and fines of 500,000 to 5 million CFA francs. The law bars judges from suspending sentences or imposing prison terms below the statutory minimum.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko pledged during the 2024 election campaign to strengthen laws against same-sex relations.

On 10 April, a court in Pikine-Guédiawaye sentenced a 24-year-old man to six years in prison and a 2 million CFA franc fine for 'acts against nature' and 'public indecency'. He had no lawyer. On 7 August, the court freed 28 people and sent 71 others to trial on charges of criminal association and 'acts against nature', while dismissing the HIV-related charges.

Beatings, Leaks and Lawyers Who Stay Away

A man from Thiès told the group that he and others were beaten, whipped and slapped in custody, leaving him with lasting injuries to his thigh. A social worker at Rebeuss prison said LGBT detainees were excluded from group activities and prayer and were sometimes forced into domestic labour.

Detainees said they were pressured to waive legal counsel and questioned without lawyers present. Lawyers said they were reluctant to take the cases for fear of being accused of 'promotion' under the new law.

Personal details closely matching case files appeared in the media, sometimes almost word for word, which Human Rights Watch said suggested confidential information had been shared with journalists.

The group called for an independent investigation into allegations that a gendarmerie commander pressured a detainee to waive his right to a lawyer before the detainee's HIV status appeared in the media. A popular artist's name and HIV status were also published after his arrest.

'Senegal's government should call a halt to this crackdown, which threatens everyone's rights,' said Larissa Kojoué, LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The group interviewed 39 people in May, including detainees, lawyers, health workers and members of the queer community. It wrote to the authorities on 29 September and had received no reply by the time of publication.

The findings come as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights meets in Dakar from 12 to 21 October. Dakar will also host the Youth Olympic Games from 31 October to 13 November.

Human Rights Watch is calling for the release of those detained under Article 319, the repeal of the law and an end to forced HIV testing.