Help us free 7 imprisoned LGBT victims of homophobia
Elmer, Amir, Dick, Martin and Octavia are locked up in Cameroon’s Yaoundé Central Prison, serving sentences for whom and how they love. You can help get them out.
Cam and Don also are jailed there, awaiting trial on homosexuality charges. With no lawyer to represent them, they have been incarcerated in the squalid, overcrowded prison since March, subsisting on one skimpy meal a day. You can help get them a lawyer and provide supplemental food for them and the other LGBT prisoners.
In addition to those human rights abuses, three of the prisoners are in desperate need of medical care.
Amir is suffering from wounds inflicted during his arrest that have become infected during his months in the filthy prison. Martin has severe cases of scabies and ringworm. Octavia has advanced herpes. A prison nurse has prescribed medication for each of them. You can help provide funds to purchase the drugs they need.
(For their safety, this article uses pseudonyms for all seven LGBT detainees.)
The five LGBT Cameroonians who have been convicted of homosexuality are serving prison sentences of six months (Elmer, Amir, Dick and Martin) and seven months (Octavia). They are scheduled to be released next month — but only if they have paid the fines that were imposed on them as part of their sentences.
None of them has the money to pay those fines, so they face the prospect of working them off by serving an extended prison sentence. Typically, an additional four to six months is added to the sentence of Cameroonian prisoners who have not paid their fines.
That’s where you come in. Project Not Alone 2022, organized by the Erasing 76 Crimes news site, is raising money to pay their fines and set them free early. The financial sponsor for the project is the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, which supports LGBTQ+ rights advocacy journalism, including the Erasing 76 Crimes news site.
The project is also seeking funds to pay the expenses for attorneys from Defenders Without Borders who have agreed to work pro bono to defend Cam and Don, the two other imprisoned victims of Cameroon’s homophobia.
In addition, Project Not Alone 2022 is raising money for deliveries of food, hygiene items and prescription medications to the LGBT prisoners. The deliveries will be made by activists from Erasing 76 Crimes.
None of the seven prisoners has been charged with any criminal offenses other than homosexuality.
Project Not Alone 2022 is seeking $4,500. That total includes $2,168 to pay the fines of the five LGBT prisoners; $497 for medication for three LGBT prisoners; $577 for a delivery of food and hygiene items to all seven LGBT detainees; and $1,258 for the estimated expenses of pro-bono legal representation for the two LGBT detainees still awaiting trial. (Those amounts may change. For example, the figure for legal expenses is a preliminary estimate.)
This year’s initiative follows previous successful efforts on behalf of LGBT prisoners in Yaoundé — initially in Yaoundé (food deliveries to three prisoners), in the northern Garoua area and in Bertoua in the east (food for six prisoners and early release after their fines were paid), then last year back in Yaoundé (food for 11 prisoners and early release after their fines were paid).
U.S. tax-deductible donations to Project Not Alone 2022 may be made via:
- PayPal
- The “Donate” button on the Facebook page of the St. Paul’s Foundation
- By sending a check to St. Paul’s Foundation, 21 Marseille, Laguna Niguel CA 92677 USA.) Please write “Project Not Alone” on the memo line.
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