Amnesty: end arrests

Laws criminalising consensual same-sex relationships must be repealed by the Cameroonian Government, Amnesty International has urged as it called for the release of people currently in prison for homosexuality.

“It is time to end the arrest, detention, prosecution and other forms of persecution and discrimination against people perceived or known to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,” Amnesty
International’s director for Africa Erwin van der Borght said.

Since March 2011, 13 people in Cameroon have been arrested for allegedly practising homosexuality.

Most have been targeted on the grounds of their perceived sexual orientation, rather than on any alleged participation in prohibited consensual acts.

In virtually no cases have the police or other eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the alleged homosexual acts.

“Laws criminalising same-sex sexual conduct violate a raft of regional and international human rights laws,” Van der Borght said.

“This law has created a climate of fear and allows police to arbitrarily detain and imprison suspected lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals where they are at times subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment with impunity.

“Persecution and prosecution of people accused of homosexuality impedes health initiatives, particularly around HIV and AIDS, that attempt to reach vulnerable groups, including men who have sex with men, by driving individuals underground and making it harder for them to access information and services.”