Senegal to try Two Teenagers for Homosexuality....

I hear Ban Ki-Moon is upset...

Two Senegalese teenagers will stand trial this coming week for allegedly committing homosexual acts. It is the latest in a string of cases targeting gay men and now young boys in Senegal.

Newspapers here in Dakar are preoccupied with the onset of the Muslim holiday Ramadan and the final matches of the season for Senegal's most popular sport, traditional wrestling. They have yet to comment on the story of two young men from the religious town of Darou Mousty in northern Senegal. The two seventeen year-old boys will stand trial this week for "homosexual acts" in a juvenile court in the region's capital, Louga.

Three other young men from Darou Mousty were arrested with the teenagers in June, but were tried in an adult court in August. Two of the men received five-year sentences and a third, who is younger, was sent to jail for two years. In Senegal, homosexuality is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in jail and fines of up to $3,000.

Siré Ba is a lawyer representing two of the men, including one of the seventeen year-olds. He says the men were in a private house when a neighbor walked in.