Thursday 14 August
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
US Warship off Nicaragua
Panama Legalizes
Gay Sex
Colombia To Extradite 16
Nationals, 1 Foreigner
to U.S.
At Least 10,000 Gallons
Of Crude Residues Spill
In Ecuador
Bolivia, Libya Establish
Diplomatic Ties
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Panama Legalizes Gay Sex
PANAMA - Panamanian
President Martín
Torrijos Espino signed a
decree repealing a 1949
law that criminalized
sodomy under penalty of
a us$500 fine or jail
time. The move followed
protests by the gay
group New Men and Women
of Panama and other
human-rights defenders,
local media said.
The decree, issued by
the Ministry of Health
and also signed by
Health Minister Rosario
E. Turner, said the ban
was at odds with the
Panamanian Constitution
and international
human-rights treaties
Panama has signed.
It also said the law
conflicted with the
Health Ministry’s policy
to “maintain respect for
the sexual preferences
of each person, without
the existence of any
type of discrimination”
in the operation of its
sexually transmitted
diseases programs.
According to Amnesty
International, 11
nations in Central
America, South America
and the Caribbean
continue to ban gay sex
— Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada,
Guyana, Jamaica, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint
Lucia, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines, and
Trinidad and Tobago.
All of the countries are
former British colonies. |
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