Friends gather in little apartment on the outskirts of Addis Ababa
March 21, 2014, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (LGBTQ Nation) — Lawmakers in Ethiopia are expected to pass into law a bill that would make same-sex acts a non-pardonable offense.
Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers last week endorsed the measure that would amend the country’s Pardon and Amnesty Law that lists homosexuality along other offenses as a non-pardonable.
According to local sources, a vote will be called upon bill in parliament as early as next week, and normally bills endorsed by the Council are passed.
The bill aims to curb the president’s power to pardon prisoners who committed certain “crimes,” including those imprisoned for homosexuality acts. Other offenses included in the list are corruption, human-trafficking, smuggling, rape and terrorism.
Ethiopia’s Minister of State Getachew Bedane urged a quick vote.