The advocacy group Camfaids (the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS) today reported a new attack against a trans woman in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Over the past few years, she has been repeatedly beaten, arrested, jailed and released. (See related stories below.) This is a translation of today’s Camfaids report: A trans woman was attacked in Yaoundé, Cameroon, … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Jonas Singa Kumie
Life is tough for trans and intersex Cameroonians
By Erin Royal Brokovitch Transgender people are becoming more visible in Cameroon, despite the legal repression of homosexuality and the fact that LGBTI people in Cameroon are often convicted in unfair trials because they look different. NAOMI AND DELORES For years, Naomi and Dolores have been well-known names in the city of Yaoundé, gaining a … Continue reading
Cameroon arrestees freed, but possible probe looms
By Erin Royal Brokovitch At exactly 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, an assistant of attorney Michel Togué sent him a text message informing him of the provisional release of two allegedly gay detainees and two trans women, Jonas and Franky. Those four arrestees breathed a huge sigh of relief, as did the defense team and … Continue reading
Cameroon sex worker jailed for not being a girl
On Saturday, a police officer in Cameroon seeking sex with a sex worker was so shocked to find that his intended partner was transgender instead of biologically female that he beat him severely, arrested him, and charged him with homosexuality. Defenders of the human rights of LGBT sex workers in Limbe in coastal Cameroon said … Continue reading
More mob violence in Cameroon; anti-gay attacks continue
Activists in Cameroon have reported two new mob attacks against LGBT people in the country’s capital of Yaoundé. The violence occurred a few days before a Day Against Homosexuality demonstration, proposed for Aug. 21, and a month after the murder of gay activist Eric Lembembe. The attacks were the latest in a series of anti-gay … Continue reading
Beating death of LGBT activist Eric Lembembe in Cameroon
LGBT activist and reporter Eric Ohena Lembembe was beaten to death over the weekend, LGBT activists in Cameroon announced today. Fellow activists said they found his bloody, lifeless body early today at his home in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Investigations by human rights defenders are under way to discover who was responsible for the crime. At his … Continue reading
Cameroon: Drop charges against 2 transgender youths
A press release signed by Alternatives-Cameroun, ADEFHO, CAMFAIDS, Human Rights Watch, and ILGA: Cameroon: Drop Charges Against 2 Transgender Youth Prosecution Based Solely on Bias, Not Evidence (Yaoundé, May 17, 2013) – The Cameroonian authorities should drop the charges against two transgender youth rather than appealing their case to the Supreme Court, five human rights … Continue reading
Hope for a big win for LGBT rights in Cameroon
Embattled LGBT people in Cameroon might soon win a major victory, veteran human rights attorney Alice Nkom said in a recent interview. Nkom sees that as a potential outcome of a prosecutor’s challenge to the January ruling that released Jonas Singa Kumie and Franky Djome from a five-year sentence they were serving for alleged violations … Continue reading
Two gay men freed into ‘living hell’ in Cameroon
After three days in police custody in Cameroon, two gay men were released yesterday, but their daily life remains a nightmare. “I’m upset and depressed. Because of what has happened to us [an attack by a gay-bashing crowd, death threats, police detention], I am more and more stressed. I fear that tomorrow morning our lifeless … Continue reading
LGBTs in Cameroon: Attacked, arrested, freed again
Police in Cameroon have released two gay men whom they had held in custody for three days starting shortly after the men were attacked by a gay-bashing crowd on March 24. Cameroonian journalist Eric Lembembe interviewed the two men, Jonas Singa Kumie and Franky Djome, after their release. He has written an updated article on … Continue reading
