Homophobic Witch Hunt
At Cameroon Schools
20
Mar 2006-
Yaounde- The hunt for gays in the small central African nation of
Cameroon has reached colleges and universities. Reports coming out of
the county say that at least 30 students have been expelled from schools
in the financial center of Douala.
The colleges say
they have turned over information on the students to police for criminal
investigations. Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon and sentences can
range from 6 months to 5 years imprisonment.
Most of the
students are female, according to local reports.
One school
expelled 10 students in a single day.
The government
has been on a purge of gays in the country. Two Cameroon men were
sentenced last month to a year in prison after admitting to police that
they had sex. By pleading guilty the men escaped forced medical exams
to determine if they had anal intercourse - a requirement imposed by
courts in sodomy cases.
Cameroon has
come under fire for more than a year for its treatment of gays.
Last December
eight international human rights groups, including the International Gay
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, demanded the immediate release of
11 other men who have been in prison for the past nine months awaiting
trial on charges of suspicion of homosexuality.
They were
arrested during a raid on a gay bar in the capital of Yaounde.
In a
preliminary hearing the men were ordered to undergo rectal exams to
determine if they had engaged in gay sex.
Two newspapers
in the capital of Yaounde went on their own witch hunt, listed names of
people suspected of being gay.
One paper listed
the name of a cabinet minister who sued for libel. The publisher was
sentenced earlier this month to four months in prison.
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