By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Three men in Cameroon were sentenced to six months of hard labor due to a criminal conviction of homosexuality. Last August, Lazare Baeeg, Emmanuel Balep, and Tony Dikongue were arrested. Police did not catch the men committing an act of homosexuality.

According to a lawyer, Alice Nkom, these men have spent close to six months in a detention center in Douala, a port city in Cameroon. In Cameroon, the penalty for a conviction of homosexuality carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $450. In the last two years, more than 30 people have been arrested on charges of homosexuality.

Presently, their lawyer has plans to appeal the conviction and sentence if the men are found guilty. Alice Nkom stands by the assertion that since the police did not catch the men committing the act of homosexuality,  they should not be found guilty of an offense that they did not do.

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign Programme Associate Joel Nana, who has been monitoring the cases stated, “As soon as the shadow of homosexuality enters into a case due process goes out of the window.”

For more information, please see:

Yahoo News – 3 Sentenced in Cameroon for Being Gay – 16 January 2008

The AP – Three men sentenced to hard labour for being gay in Cameroon – 16 January 2008

Pink News – Cameroon men get six months jail for being gay  – 16 January 2008