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Gay Witch Hunt Row In Cameroon
06 Feb
2006- A newspaper in Cameroon has accused more than 50 prominent
figures of homosexuality, in a crusade that has rocked the country's
political ands business elites.
The latest list of names by the weekly tabloid L'Anecdote includes
government ministers, newsreaders, popular singers and sports stars.
Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon, along with many other African
countries, with jail sentences of up to five years handed to offenders.
Newspaper editors say they are campaigning against those who engage in
"deviant behaviour".
"Men making love to other men... is filthy," L'Anecdote publisher, Jean
Pierre Amougou Belinga, told Reuters. "It may be normal in the west but
in Africa and Cameroon in particular, it's unthinkable," he said.
"We could not remain silent. We had to ring the alarm bell. We don't
regret it and we have to do it again... in spite of numerous death
threats that me and my journalists have had." The campaign was launched
in late January by the tabloid La Meteo, which published a three-page
dossier of names.
The events in the West African country have angered
gay rights activists both in Cameroon and the United Kingdom while
sparking gossip across the nation's general public.
One of the papers, the Cameroon weekly L'Anecdote, on
Jan. 24 published a list of politicians, celebrities and sports
personalities and claimed they were gay.
The newspaper sold out so quickly, according to The
Guardian, that newsstands were forced to distribute photocopies to their
customers. Some of the people listed have already threatened the
newspaper with legal action. One government minister has said the
newspaper's action will cause splits across families.
"Whether heterosexual or homosexual, sexual
intercourse takes place in an intimate environment between two persons,"
Communications Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo told reporters.
L'Anecdote's publisher, Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, said the newspaper
"could not remain silent."
"We had to ring the alarm bell," he said. He has been
backed by other politicians and senior religious figures, one of whom
said gay people were "filthy" and deserved exposure. "Gay activists in
Cameroon are shocked, furious and very frightened," veteran activist
Peter Tatchell told Gay.com on Monday, adding, "This is just the latest
homophobic outrage" in Cameroon.
It has sparked a national debate about gay rights and privacy. One of
those names is Communications Minister Pierre Moukoko, who is
threatening to take legal action. He told Reuters that the Cameroonian
media risks breaking up families.
"Whether it is heterosexual or homosexual, sexual intercourse takes
place in an intimate environment between two persons," he told media
chiefs last month, according to a BBC report.
The campaign came after Roman Catholic archbishop Victor Tonye Bakot
vehemently denounced homosexuality in December. He criticised the
European Union for giving legitimacy to gays as well as those calling
for same sex marriages.
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