UN rights experts slam Nigeria gay marriage bill

GENEVA, Feb 24 (Reuters) Four United Nations envoys have condemned a proposed Nigerian law banning same-sex marriages as a violation of international human rights law.

The independent experts, most of whom report to the Human Rights Council, the UN watchdog on fundamental freedoms, yesterday said the legislation amounted to an ''absolutely unjustified intrusion'' into an individual's right to privacy.

''(It would) contravene ... the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that 'all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights','' they said in a statement.

Homosexuality is already illegal in Nigeria but the government introduced a bill explicitly outlawing gay marriage after a number of Western countries authorised same-sex unions. Offenders face five years in prison under the legislation, which is currently before the House of Representatives.

''The bill contains provisions that infringe freedoms of assembly and association and imply serious consequences for the excerise of the freedom of expression and opinion,'' the envoys' statement said.

The envoys are: Hina Jilani, special representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders; the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Doudou Diene; the special rapporteur on violence against women, Yakin Erturk; and the special rapporteur on the right to health, Paul Hunt.

REUTERS SSC KN0918