Welcome to Senegal. Come for the Youth Olympics, celebrate human dignity, and try not to notice the persecution of LGBT people. As the country prepares to welcome young athletes from around the world, a new Human Rights Watch report describes mass arrests, forced HIV testing and obstacles to legal representation. Apparently, the celebration of humanity comes with conditions.
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will run from October 31 to November 13. They mark the first Olympic sporting event on African soil, a milestone that deserves celebration. However, that achievement also makes the host government’s treatment of its own people impossible to separate from the festivities.
Ten years for consensual same-sex conduct
In March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye approved legislation doubling the maximum prison sentence for same-sex sexual acts to ten years. The law also criminalizes their “promotion” or financing. Reuters reported that Faye and Ousmane Sonko had promised tougher anti-LGBT legislation during the 2024 election campaign. This was a political commitment, carried through despite international criticism.
Consider the priorities involved. A government preparing to host an international celebration of youth chose to strengthen its power to imprison people for consensual intimacy. The same state that invites the world to admire its hospitality has made life more dangerous for a minority at home.
Nor does winning an election make such persecution legitimate. A majority can support an abusive law, and legislators can pass it through the correct procedures. Neither changes what the law does to the people it targets.
Arrests behind the celebrations
The scale of the crackdown remains uncertain, but the available figures are alarming. The Associated Press reported that the Senegalese rights organization RADDHO counted at least 212 arrests between February and July. HIV Justice Network put the figure above 300. These are separate estimates, not an official, independently established total.
Human Rights Watch also described authorities using information from seized phones to pursue further arrests. One former detainee told researchers that officers beat and whipped him. Meanwhile, lawyers reported fearing repercussions for representing people accused of same-sex conduct, particularly under the broadly framed prohibition on “promotion.”
The consequences extend well beyond a prison sentence. When defending an accused person becomes socially or professionally dangerous, the right to a fair trial weakens. When private communications can expose others to arrest, ordinary relationships become sources of fear.
Punishment disguised as public health
According to Human Rights Watch, authorities have subjected detainees to HIV testing without informed consent. Health professionals described people avoiding appointments because they feared arrest, exposure and stigma. Senegal’s own HIV legislation protects medical confidentiality and informed consent, making these practices especially troubling.
A government cannot credibly claim to protect public health while making people afraid to seek medical care. Testing and treatment depend on trust. Turning medical information into a threat gives people another reason to stay away.
Furthermore, an HIV diagnosis does not establish that someone deliberately infected another person. Treating it as a mark of criminality encourages prejudice while obscuring the individual evidence that any legitimate prosecution requires.
What exactly are the Olympic values?
On October 8, the International Olympic Committee promoted the Youth Olympic flame’s journey through all 14 Senegalese regions. Its announcement described the tour as an opportunity for young people to learn about Olympic values. The language celebrates connection, participation and shared excitement.
Yet Human Rights Watch has directly challenged the crackdown’s compatibility with the Olympic Charter’s commitment to nondiscrimination. That raises an unavoidable question for Olympic leaders: what practical protection follows from the values they promote?
A credible response should include public pressure to end persecution, protect access to lawyers and healthcare, and repeal laws criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct. Assurances about visiting athletes would address only part of the problem. Senegalese LGBT people will still live under these laws after international visitors leave.
A welcome with conditions
Senegal’s athletes, volunteers and ordinary citizens deserve the opportunity to celebrate their work. Criticizing government persecution does not diminish their achievements. Indeed, a country’s international success should create space to demand better treatment of everyone who lives there.
The Youth Olympics should encourage young people to participate openly in society. What message does the host government send to a young person discovering that they are gay? That the world may applaud their country while their country threatens their future.
The best Olympic host ever would have reason to boast about more than stadiums and ceremonies. Until Senegal stops persecuting LGBT people, its government deserves scrutiny every time it speaks about dignity, inclusion and respect.
