Cable sobre la homosexualidad en Botswana

La diplomacia del país africano comunica a la estadounidense que la cuestión de las parejas del mismo sexo es una cuestión muy delicada

Madrid - 05 feb 2011 - 13:58CET

ID:	250769
Date:	2010-02-25 14:11:00
Origin:	10GABORONE173
Source:	Embassy Gaborone
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Dunno:	09GABORONE1052 10STATE788
Destination:	VZCZCXYZ0007 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHOR #0173 0561411 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 251411Z FEB 10 FM AMEMBASSY GABORONE TO SECSTATE WASHDC 6302
C O N F I D E N T I A L GABORONE 000173 SIPDIS FOR AF/S, AF/EX, AND M E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: APER, AMGT, PREL, BC SUBJECT: ACCREDITATION OF SAME-SEX DOMESTIC PARTNERS REF: A. STATE 788 B. 09 GABORONE 1052 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan; Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) 1. (C) Per instructions in Ref A, Ambassador raised the issue of accreditation of same-sex domestic partners of U.S. government personnel with a senior aide to President Khama. The aide said Botswana remains a very traditional society and homosexuality is an extremely sensitive subject. She noted that the GOB would likely not/not be amenable to accrediting same sex domestic partners, since this would represent a direct challenge to Botswana's culture and laws. We understand that the GOB has on several occasions turned down applications by European diplomatic missions for accreditations of same-sex domestic partners of their staff. The aide said that Botswana has, in effect, a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on same sex personnel, and although the GOB would not accredit a same-sex partner as a diplomatic family member, the GOB would not object to the partner's residency as long as the partner applied through seperate channels and has an independent work-related reason to be in Botswana (the case of one of our Mission families). 2. (C) Comment: Homosexuality is considered to be illegal in Botswana. The criminal code penalizes "unnatural acts," which are commonly assumed to include homosexual activity. Still, the government is generally tolerant of its (very quiet) gay community. As we reported in ref B and our Human Rights Report, there have been no reported cases of arrests or harassment of homosexuals in Botswana and the overall societal attitude seems to be one of "don't ask, don't tell." However, society and official policy still disapprove of homosexuality and there seems little chance that this will change any time soon. Therefore, post believes it would be counterproductive to push the GOB further on the accreditation issue at this time. End Comment. NOLAN