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Cameroon releases
nine men jailed for being gay
21 April 2006- The West African nation of Cameroon on
Friday relented to pressure from human rights groups and released nine
men imprisoned for a year because they were gay.
The freed men were part of a larger group of 17 men arrested in May 2005
at a Cameroonian nightclub believed to be popular with gays and
lesbians. Eleven men remained detained held on suspicion of sodomy who
were too impoverished to hire a lawyer or find a way to be released.
On March 17 two more men were released for lack of evidence along with
pressure from human rights groups, including the International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the trial was scheduled for April
21. When the judge found the prosecution ill-prepared and without
witnesses, he acquitted all nine men of any charges.
"While nothing can return to these men the year of their lives spend
locked in a cell, we are hopeful that rule of law and respect for human
dignity are reemerging as basic principles of human rights in Cameroon,"
said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC's senior coordinator for Africa.
When IGLHRC was alerted to the arrest days after it occurred, the
group arranged for a local attorney to take the men's case, provided
assistance to help the men survive the harsh conditions of their
detention, and demanded their release from Cameroonian and United
Nations officials.
In a communication to IGLHRC, Cameroon minister of justice Amadou Ali
wrote, "Positive African cultural values are preserved," adding that
"homosexuality is not a value accepted in the Cameroonian society."
Cameroon has garnered
international attention this year because of its tabloids routinely
outing African and European celebrities as well as the nation's policy
of detaining citizens on sodomy charges and expelling students for their
sexual orientation
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