Mauritius’ Supreme Court decision to decriminalise same-sex relations amongst consenting adults is a crucial step forward for equality, a UN human rights expert said today. “I am profoundly encouraged by the Supreme Court’s findings, which evoke the principle of equality and the imperative of respecting all the elements that create a person’s identity and their experience,” said the UN independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz. “I also note that the judgment has explicitly recognised that the legislation criminalising homosexuality was never an expression of indigenous Mauritian values, but an imposition of the British colonial project,” Madrigal-Borloz said.