JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Human Rights Watch says the southern African nation of Angola has decriminalized same-sex activity and banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The rights group says the changes came on Wednesday when Angola's parliament adopted the new first penal code since independence from Portugal in 1975.

This is the latest in reforms under the administration of President Joao Lourenco, a former defense minister who took office in 2017 after the long rule of Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Human Rights Watch notes that Angola's only gay rights lobbying organization, Iris Angola, was granted legal status last year after four years of operation.

The global rights group says 69 countries still criminalize same-sex conduct.