By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Cameroon has one of the most aggressive “homosexuality” prosecutions in the world, according to a report released Thursday by four human rights groups.
In cooperation with Alternatives-Cameroun, Association for the Defense of Gays and Lesbians (ADEFHO), and the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS), Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted 10 case studies of arrests and prosecutions under article 347 bis of Cameroon’s penal code. Based on this statute, having sexual relations with the same sex is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment.
In their 55-page report, “Guilty by Association: Human Rights Violations in the Enforcement of Cameroon’s Anti-Homosexuality Law,” the human rights organizations revealed that at least 28 people have been prosecuted for same-sex conduct in Cameroon since 2010. Most of them were tortured, forced to confess, denied access to legal counsel, and subjected to “discriminatory treatment by law enforcement and judicial officials.”
The study also found out that most of the arrests were based solely on suspicion, while most of the convictions were based on little or no evidence.
One man from Limbre who was accused of being gay was beaten with an iron belt, in addition to being forced to swim in the gutter. Local police also burned plastic bags on his chest. Another detainee told the human rights groups that authorities had him “sleep naked on the floor and [they] beat him with clubs on his feet so severely that his toenails fell out.” Other men arrested for homosexuality were subjected to anal exams before being sent to jail.
According to the human rights groups, Cameroon’s anti-homosexual laws “violate international human rights standards and Cameroon’s own constitution”. In the first place, Cameroon ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that protects the rights to privacy and non-discrimination. Secondly, as pointed out by HRW, Cameroon is a member of the Commonwealth, which has a charter that opposes discrimination on all grounds.
“Our government and our courts need to recognize that when it comes to Cameroon’s international human rights commitments, they cannot pick and choose on the basis of personal biases,” said Alice Nkom, president of ADEFHO.
Last month, the Association of Cameroon Roman Catholic jurists, a group of lawyers affiliated with the Catholic Church in Cameroon, expressed their support for the country’s anti-gay laws. According to the group, such laws prevent same-sex relationships which they, along with Archbishop of Yaoundé Simon-Victor Tonyé Bakot, describe as “a serious crime against humanity”.
The group’s chairperson, Sandrine Soppo, said that fighting homosexuality “is not a question of human rights violations . . . the question was about human dignity.”
For further information, please see:
ABC News – Report: Cameroon Officials Torture Gay Suspects – 21 March 2013
Huffington Post – Cameroon Officials Torture Gay Suspects, Says Human Rights Watch Report – 21 March 2013
Human Rights Watch – Cameroon: Rights Abuses in ‘Homosexuality’ Prosecutions – 21 March 2013
LGBTQ Nation – Report: Cameroon most aggressive country in prosecuting suspected gays – 21 March 2013
Africa Review – Cameroon Catholic lawyers vow to uphold anti-gay laws – 25 February 2013
