More unfortunate news from Cameroon, where gay men are routinely and randomly arrested and subjected to legal ordeals that continue for years.
Activists report that four more men have been arrested on suspicion of homosexuality in the capital city of Yaounde. The detainees reportedly include two teenagers, reports ILGA.
Joseph Magloire O (46 years old), Yvan Nicolas N (18 years old), Seraphin Sylvain Nt (34 years old) and Emma L .T (17 years old) were arrested [on] August 10 and were presented in front the judge on Friday 26th August for the allegation of: Homosexuality and indecent assault of a minor. They were remanded at the central prison of Yaounde by the judge the same Friday 26th August 2011.
Alternatives-Cameroon:
- Denounces the instrumentalization of article 347 bis which leads to the madness of repressive Cameroonian citizens on the basis of their sexual orientation real or perceive;
- Asks the authority of the [prison] to offer to one of the four suspected homosexuals a medical care for his HIV infection and to find suitable conditions of detention for the two other young men;
- Call again the Cameroonian government to stop these wild arrests based on the sexual orientation real or perceive of individuals;
- Call once again to the repeal of the article 347 bis of the Cameroonian penal code which criminalize homosexuality.
The central African nation boasts one of Africa's more repressive anti-LGBT regimes. In recent months, there has been an increase in arrests and prosecutions under section 347a of its penal code, which criminalizes same-sex sexual acts. The government is reportedly preparing to toughen its already harsh penalties against homosexuality by equating them with pedophilia, activist reported last week.
Since late July, a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old have been in custody. New reports suggest the youths were arrested because they appeared feminine. The young men were beaten and tortured, charged under Section 347a and appeared in court last Friday. Cameroonian LGBT activists also reported the March arrest of three men for homosexuality.
Attorney Alice Nkom, who successfully freed more than a dozen imprisoned gay men and founded the Association to Defend Homosexuals (ADEFHO), was threatened with arrest earlier this year. In 2007 she discovered an imprisoned gay man who was held for two years without trial. He was later released.
Background:
2 Gay Youth Arrested for "Looking Feminine"
2 Gay Youth Face Trial for Homosexuality
Air France Refuses to Deport Gay Asylum Seeker
CAMEROON: 3 More Arrests for Homosexuality
Cameroon: Pro-LGBT Attorney Threatened w/ Arrest
Cameroon Sentences Journalist to 6 Months
Cameroon Sentences Three for Homosexuality
Gay Man Imprisoned for Two Years Without Trial
"Homosexuelle en Afrique"
Cameroon Gay Man Re-Arrested
UN Condemns Cameroon Anti-Gay Laws
Yaoundé 11 Free?
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