Alternatives-Cameroon calls on President Paul Biya to block enactment of a revised Penal Code that reinforces the old Penal Code’s criminalization of homosexuality. The Douala-based advocacy organization, which fights against Aids and for recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people, today issued this press release: Retaining the Criminalization of Homosexuality in Cameroon A step … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Paul Biya
‘A new low by Cameroon’s government’
The comments by the official state representative toward the late Eric Lembembe, who is no longer with us to defend himself against such vitriol, represent a new low by Cameroon’s government. — Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher on LGBT rights for Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Watch this week criticized the government of Cameroon for lies, … Continue reading
Cameroon appeal: Concrete steps to fight anti-gay violence
Cameroon should combat recent outbreaks of anti-gay violence, starting by taking a public stand on the issue during next month’s United Nations review of the country’s human rights record, according to 12 local and international human rights groups who made that request in an open letter to President Paul Biya on Sept. 11. “The Cameroonian … Continue reading
Cameroon activist tortured, killed; the nation must respond
Human Rights Watch issued this press release today about the murder of LGBT activist and reporter Eric Ohena Lembembe: Cameroon: LGBTI Rights Activist Found Dead, Tortured Authorities Should Investigate Death, Condemn Violence (Nairobi, July 16, 2013) – Cameroonian authorities should immediately conduct an effective and thorough investigation into the torture and killing of Eric Ohena … Continue reading
After death threats, burglars strike Cameroon LGBT defender
Anti-gay hooligans continue to harass Michel Togué, one of the few lawyers in Cameroon who accepts LGBT people as clients. Following death threats that he has received by phone and mail in recent months, his offices were burglarized on June 16. The burglars took his laptop, passport, USB memory devices, and a variety of confidential … Continue reading
Cameroon: Two lesbians sentenced to nine months
“The case of Clarisse Z. and Jeanine N., two young lesbians, each 27 years old, is unlike any of the other cases of homosexuality that I have defended until now.” — Michel Togué, Cameroonian lawyer and human rights defender. A defendant isn’t usually the person whose complaint prompts a police investigation, but in the case … 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
Report: Cameroon jails many LGBTs to settle scores
Most people charged with violating Cameroon’s law against homosexual activity are convicted based on little or no evidence, Human Rights Watch states in a report released today. The study was prepared in cooperation with Cameroonian LGBT-rights organizations Alternatives-Cameroun, the Association for the Defense of Gays and Lesbians (ADEFHO), and the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS). … Continue reading
In Cameroon, anti-gay voices grow louder
In Cameroon, the topic of homosexuality is no longer taboo. Both in Yaoundé and Douala, on the street, in taxis, restaurants, bars, offices and markets, on the radio and on television, it is difficult to spend a day or even an hour without the conversation reverting to this topic. Opposition to homosexuality has become the … Continue reading
Catholic lawyers push Cameroon to keep anti-gay law
A group of Roman Catholic lawyers in Cameroon gathered last weekend to call for continued enforcement of the country’s law against homosexual acts, which can be punished by prison sentences of up to five years. Africa Review reported: The Association of Cameroon Roman Catholic jurists made the weekend declaration during a conference on homosexuality held … Continue reading
