Cameroon jails man for sending a gay text message

in: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cameroon-jails-man-sending-gay-text-message171212

Jean-Claude Roger Mbédé's three-year prison term upheld by appeals court in Cameroon, one of Africa's most anti-gay states

An appeals court in Cameroon has upheld a three-year sentence against a man found guilty of ‘homosexuality’ for sending a text message to another man saying: ‘I'm very much in love with you’.

Activists said that today’s court's ruling in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, is a major setback in a country seen as one of the the most repressive in Africa towards LGBT people.

Jean-Claude Roger Mbédé, 32 year-old university student, had been provisionally released on bail in July after serving a year and a half in prison.

In September this year launched an appeal against the court ruling only to have it rejected today (17 December).

His lawyers have now ten days to file an appeal to the country's supreme court.

Holding back tears on today (17 December), Mbédé told the Associated Press by telephone: ‘I am going back to the dismal conditions that got me critically ill before I was temporarily released for medical reasons.

‘I am not sure I can put up with the anti-gay attacks and harassment I underwent at the hands of fellow inmates and prison authorities on account of my perceived and unproven sexual orientation. The justice system in this country is just so unfair’.

Mbédé's provisional release earlier this year followed pressure from rights activists over his deteriorating health aggravated by malnutrition and repeated assaults.

Quoted in the British daily The Guardian, Neela Ghoshal, a researcher in the LGBT rights programme at Human Rights Watch, stated: ‘It's the country that arrests, prosecutes and convicts more people than any other country that we know of in Africa for consensual same-sex adult conduct.

‘In most of these cases there is little or no evidence. Usually people are convicted on the basis of allegations or denunciations from people who have claimed to law enforcement officials that they are gay’.

She said many suspects were tortured or otherwise treated poorly in custody until they gave confessions, which were then used as evidence against them.

In October, two men were convicted of homosexuality because of their ‘effeminate’ appearance and because they were drinking Bailey's Irish Cream, which is viewed as a ‘gay drink’.

Andre Banks, executive director of All Out, said Mbédé is now in significant danger because of the homophobic attention the case has received.

‘Roger said he had to leave the university where he was studying because of the attention from the case and because of the mounting threats and fear of violence that have been very concerning to him’.

‘He's worried that he won't be able to have a normal life in Cameroon because of the amount of attention it's brought to him’.

Mbédé's lawyer, Alice Nkom, had received death threats for defending the student and supporting LGBT rights.

A text message sent in October to Yaoundé-based lawyer Michel Togue, who has also defended people accused of homosexuality, similarly threatened his children.

Attached to the message were photos of the children leaving school.

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson, Rupert Colville, blasted Cameroon for its mistreatment of LGBT people, citing the case of Mbédé: ‘Laws that target people because of their sexual orientation are discriminatory … we strongly oppose them and we obviously try and convince governments that have such laws to change them.

‘Many governments have had these kinds of laws and have changed them over the years so we hope Cameroon will do [so] as well.’

Being LGBT carries huge risks in Cameroon; same-sex sexual acts are illegal under section 347 of the penal code with a penalty of five years imprisonment including a hefty fine. If the offender is under the age of 21 a more severe punishment is likely.

In 2010 four NGOs published a detailed report indicating that Cameroon is one of the most hostile countries in Africa for LGBT people.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cameroon-jails-man-sending-gay-text-message171212

Sentenced to 5 years in prison for being gay? Sounds crazy, but it happened to 2 men in Cameroon

http://www.change.org/

In November, two gay men in Cameroon were sentenced to five years in prison simply for being gay, the harshest penalty allowed under Cameroonian law. During the trial, according to the AFP, the judge issued some particularly homophobic comments, leading one lawyer to call the trial “a bad ruling,” and leading Amnesty International to label these men as “prisoners of conscience.”

The sentence comes on the heels of increased homophobia in Cameroon, and debates over legislation that would further criminalize homosexuality in the country. Human rights attorney Alice Nkom told AllOut.org that “Violence against gay people in Cameroon has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels: the situation is quickly becoming a crisis. The president of Cameroon can put a stop to this, and if he feels enough pressure he will do so.”

Help send a message to Cameroon that the world is watching, and won’t stand silent while people are sentenced to jail solely because of their sexual orientation. Demand the release of these gay men from prison.

Please sign the petition:

http://www.change.org/

In Cameroon LGBT activism means supplying food, clothes, and cash

in: http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2010/12/in-cameroon-lgbt-activism-means.html

By Michelle Garcia

At age 17, Steave Nemande left his home country of Cameroon to study in Russia. Little did he know he would also discover he is gay.

After eight years of study and obtaining his medical degree in Russia, Nemande found himself back in Cameroon, en route to a more bustling locale like Johannesburg for additional schooling. But something kept him in Cameroon — he saw a need for advocacy and activism for the country's persecuted LGBT population.

Eventually, Nemande became the head of Alternatives-Cameroun, a now four-year-old organization that provides services and help for gay people in the region. While he was quite aware of his sexual orientation when he took the post, his family did not know he was gay until rumors about his new job spread to his father.

"Two gay men were arrested for being homosexual," he told The Advocate, the day after he was presented with Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges Award for his work. "After they were released, it was unsafe for them to return home, so I invited them to Douala to relax. We housed them at my apartment, but because of the way they dressed, and the way they acted, people knew they were gay."

Finally, Nemande's father approached him and asked about the situation. He describes his father as being generally reserved, and when he came out to his parents, they understood and accepted him. Still, they feared other people's reactions.

"I'm very lucky for the support of my parents, but not everyone has that in Cameroon," he said, which is why the work of Alternatives-Cameroun is so significant. According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, the Cameroon Penal Code, enacted in 1972, punishes "sexual relations with a person of the same sex" with a prison term of six months to five years and with a fine of up to 200,000 CFA (US$416).

Furthermore, national and religious leaders openly talk about suppressing homosexuality to further "positive African cultural values." Newspapers have also flooded their pages with antigay editorials, and police often beat people they suspect of being gay.

With the promotion of such attitudes comes isolation and stigma for gay people. Women who marry men only to later be exposed as lesbians often lose custody of their children, and most lose family support as well, leaving them homeless and alone. Nemande points out that this also deprives children of their mothers. Some gay people also become subject to extortion on the part of neighbors and even friends and family.

"Let's say you meet someone online, and you decide to meet," Nemande said. "Then all of a sudden, a woman comes to the door, she calls the neighbors, and everyone comes to take your possessions and money, as a means to 'buy security.' And, of course, you cannot go to the police, because they will arrest you for being a homosexual."

But for LGBT Cameroonians, Nemande's organization provides some help when they cannot turn to their families and friends. Nemande was able to rattle off a short list of organizations with the same goals in the entire continent of Africa. While the group's funds are not plentiful, Alternatives-Cameroun activists provide legal aid, offer HIV outreach and education, and visit jails to hand out food, clothes, and cash to help people survive tough prison life, and the organization even pays rent for people who have become homeless.

Nemande added that Alternatives-Cameroun helps people start small businesses, many making or selling clothes, tailoring, or running small food stands, in order for them to become financially independent. This is especially important as many parents cut off support for their gay children, who are then forced out of school and head toward a life of prostitution.

Alternatives-Cameroun is part of AMSHeR, a coalition of African resource groups in countries including Burundi, Uganda, and Nigeria, which have all made headlines for their ill-treatment of gay citizens. Nemande said he welcomes more involvement from the international community to help eradicate institutionalized and virulent homophobia in African nations. He urges those who are concerned to spread the word.

"Telling people about this kind of work has value," he said. "If enough people really know and understand what's going on, we can change things."

http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2010/12/in-cameroon-lgbt-activism-means.html