We did it! All 13 innocent LGBTQ prisoners have been freed
Project Not Alone helps unjustly incarcerated LGBTQ prisoners in Africa.
Last year, 12 prisoners were freed through the efforts of Project Not Alone, which goes into prisons in Cameroon and Nigeria, finds unjustly incarcerated LGBTQ prisoners and works to set them free.
The project was ready to assist a 13th prisoner, but he was apparently set free through his family’s influence.
All 13 were victims of Cameroonian or Nigerian homophobia. None had been charged with anything other than homosexuality.
Project Not Alone works this way: We publish the stories of innocent LGBTQ prisoners; raise money to buy supplemental food for them; pay legal expenses for attorneys working for them pro bono, if they have yet gone to trial; and pay their fines, which qualifies them to get out of prison early.
Project Not Alone is sponsored by the Erasing 76 Crimes news site and the U.S.-based St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation. SOS Solidarity, our local partner in Bafoussam, established and maintained contact with the LGBT prisoners at Bafoussam Prison.
Tally from 2019 to now
A total of 36 innocent prisoners have been freed by Project Not Alone since 2019:
- 2019 – 3 prisoners in the Garoua area of Cameroon
- 2020 – 3 prisoners in Bertoua, Cameroon
- 2021-22 – 11 prisoners in Yaoundé, Cameroon
(Accounts of those 17 prisoners are here. including a report on additional three prisoners who received supplemental food from us in 2018 but were not freed.)
- 2022-23 – 7 prisoners in Yaoundé, Cameroon
(Accounts of those 7 prisoners are here and here.)
- 2023 – 12 prisoners (excluding the prisoner who was released without our the project’s involvement)
Finances of Project Not Alone 2023
Total individuals’ net donations: $6,139.78 (net of PayPal and Donorbox fees)
Attitude Foundation grant: $3,553.36 received Sept. 18, 2023
Total net donations: $9,693.14
Total expenditures: $9,101.06
Remaining unspent: $592.08, which likely will be used soon for travel to visit prisons to investigate whether LGBTQ prisoners are eligible for Project Not Alone 2024.
These are the articles about the past year’s project, starting with its public launch on May 8, 2023, “Help us free 13 imprisoned LGBTQ victims of homophobia” homophobia/
We helped set the following prisoners free. They are identified with pseudonyms for their safety:
Otto and Alan – freed in June 2023 (We paid their fines) https://76crimes.com/2023/07/24/cameroon-readers-generous-gifts-have-set-alan-and-otto-free/
Helen and Uchechi — freed in July 2023. (We paid their fines and covered the legal expenses of an attorney working pro-bono for them.) https://76crimes.com/2023/07/10/generous-readers-help-two-trans-nigerians-avoid-7-years-in-prison/
Tom, Ben, Stan and Sean – freed in October 2023 (We paid their fines and covered the legal expenses of an attorney working pro-bono for them.) Five were arrested together; one of them was released without intervention from Project Not Alone. https://76crimes.com/2023/11/28/donate-we-freed-4-more-innocent-gay-prisoners/
Katie and Mimi – freed in December 2023 (We paid their fines and covered the legal expenses of an attorney working pro-bono for them.) https://76crimes.com/2024/01/09/please-donate-we-helped-free-a-lesbian-couple-in-cameroon/
Martha and Sally – freed in December 2023. Confirmation of that fact didn’t happen until February because of communication problems experienced by SOS Solidarity, our partner in Bafoussam. (We paid their fines and covered the legal expenses of an attorney working pro-bono for them.) https://76crimes.com/2024/03/02/cameroon-project-not-alone/
If you want to get started on support for Project Not Alone 2024, click HERE (The donation will be made via PayPal and the St. Paul’s Foundation.)
