Homosexuality in Cameroon

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Geographical location of Cameroon

In Cameroon , homosexuality is largely taboo in society and homosexual acts are punishable.

Legal situation: illegality

According to Section 347 of the Criminal Code, homosexual acts are punishable by a maximum penalty of five years and a minimum of a fine. There is no anti-discrimination law in Cameroon .

While the law allows only those caught red-handed to be arrested, in practice those suspected of being homosexual are usually held in custody and charged before any evidence of homosexual activity is even sought. For example, the Cameroonian human rights lawyer and President of the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals Alice Nkom stated in a statement to the Swiss Refugee Agency that all of her clients were arrested and placed in custody solely on grounds of suspicion. Judges too misapplied the law by convicting people of homosexuality rather than a homosexual act, as literally provided for in Article 347.

Recognition of same-sex couples

State recognition of same-sex couples does not exist in the form of same-sex marriage or in a registered partnership .

Social situation

Due to the illegality, there are no LGBT communities in Cameroon. Homosexual people are pushed into the social underground. In 2009 a court sentenced three men to six months of forced labor for homosexual acts. In 2007, a homosexual man was released from a prison in Cameroon after two years without trial after an American LGBT organization stood up for him. In 2006, a newspaper in Cameroon published the names of around 50 nationally prominent Cameroonians who were allegedly homosexual. This led to a debate in the media and in Cameroon society about the rights of homosexual people in the country. Journalist and LGBT activist Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga , who published the list in the newspaper, was detained for four months because the list also included Cameroonian government member Gregoire Owona . In 2011, the journalist Anne Mireille Nzouankeu published a report about the life of homosexual people in Cameroon. She then received death threats and the newspaper had to withdraw the article. The European Commission awarded Anne Mireille Nzouankeu the Lorenzo Natali Prize for this. In February 2012, three women were arrested and charged.

On July 15, 2013, journalist and gay activist Eric Ohena Lembembe was found murdered in his apartment. Lembembe, who was considered one of the spokesmen and most visible activists in Cameroon and is co-author of the book From Wrongs to Gay Rights , had only a few weeks before publicly warned of attacks by anti-gay thugs. There are indications that he was tortured, according to Human Rights Watch , with whom he worked closely in Cameroon.

The documentary Born This Way , published in 2013, sheds light on everyday life in Cameroon's illegal LGBT scene and documents the work of lawyer Alice Nkom.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ILGA: State-sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF document; 383 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ilga.org
  2. ↑ Alexandra Geiser: Cameroon: Situation of homosexuals. (PDF) Swiss Refugee Aid, October 6, 2009, accessed on October 12, 2010 .
  3. ↑ Queer.de: Cameroon: Forced Labor for 3 Gays , January 17th, 2008
  4. ↑ Queer.de: Cameroon: Gay man dismissed , March 2, 2007
  5. ↑ BBC News: Row over Cameroon 'gay' witchhunt , Feb. 6, 2006
  6. ↑ 9News: Cameroon gay list publisher jailed ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 4, 2006 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.ninemsn.com.au
  7. ↑ The New York Times: 'Gay List' Publisher Jailed , March 4, 2006
  8. ↑ Website of the Lorenzo Natali Prize  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on July 10, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / lorenzonataliprize.eu  
  9. ↑ Anne Mireille Nzouankeu on her article and the reactions ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 2011, accessed on July 10, 2012 (French, English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lorenzonataliprize.eu
  10. ↑ Advocate: Three Lesbians on trial in Cameroon first ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.advocate.com
  11. ↑ Human rights in Cameroon - gay activist murdered , taz article from July 16, 2013, accessed on July 17, 2013
  12. ↑ Cameroon: LGBTI Rights Activist Found Dead, Tortured , Report by Human Rights Watch, accessed July 17, 2013