Police raid on Alternatives Cameroon leaves 1,800 HIV patients in the lurch

LGBTQ rights activist and journalist in Cameroon.

LGBTI advocacy group was shut down by government edict.

Two staff members of Alternatives Cameroon chat during an idle moment long before the 2024 police raid. (Photo courtesy of HumanRightsWarrior.com)

About 1,800 HIV patients have been stranded without anti-AIDS treatment in the city of Douala, Cameroon, in the wake of a Sept. 30 police raid on the headquarters of Alternatives Cameroon.

After the raid, in which 13 people were arrested on homosexuality-related charges, the region’s public health division ordered the LGBTI advocacy group to cease operations.

“We no longer have any way to continue providing care to people in need, said David M., director of Alternative Cameroon. “Our activities have been banned, and we feel incapable and discriminated against.”

The New Bell central prison in Douala, Cameroon. (Dylan Robertson photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)

Of the 13 people arrested on Sept. 30, four Alternatives staff members were taken to New Bell Prison on homosexuality-related charges. The other nine were released. Following the intervention of the pool of lawyers involved, three of the four were granted provisional release, pending court action on the charges against them.

Denis Watonwa, a psychological counselor for Alternatives, remains in custody at New Bell Prison, charged with having sexual relations with a boy at the group’s offices. That unidentified youth accused Watonwa of luring him into a sexual relationship.

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Until it closed, Alternatives was active combatting AIDS in Douala, using funds from Cameroon’s Care and Health Program, the principal recipient of funds from Pepfar, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.Alternatives Cameroun had been the leading organization fighting HIV/AIDS and defending human rights among key populations in Cameroon, specifically sexual and gender minorities. It was founded in 2006 and, until its closure, served 1,800 clients in Douala — one of the largest number of LGBTI people living with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon.

HIV-plus Cameroonians in the city of Yaoundé can still get care from the advocacy group SOS Solidarity Rights and Health, but those in Doula no longer have ready access to HIV treatment, preventive care or proctological care, for which Alternatives was one of the pioneers.