Cameroon men still locked up
03 May 2006- The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission said Wednesday that it has learned the Cameroonian government
has refused to release nine men jailed on charges of homosexuality
despite their April 21 acquittal. The IGHRC said that the government has
voided the acquittals and ordered a new trial.
The men have
been detained in Kondegui Prison in Yaoundé for nearly a year. At their
initial trial, Judge Tonye, the magistrate overseeing the case, declared
the men innocent of all charges after the prosecution called not
witnesses and presented no proof that a crime had occurred.
Homosexuality
is illegal in the African nation. A conviction could result in sentences
up to five years in prison, on top of the time they have already served.
"You arrest
people unfairly, violate their rights for almost a year, and then refuse
to release them—this constitutes an abuse of power,” Duga Titanji, the
men’s attorney in Cameroon, told IGLHRC on Wednesday.
"This
development constitutes a major violation of due process. With no new
arrest warrant being served, this is now a blatant case of arbitrary
detention.”
The nine were the
last of 11 men arrested during a June 2005 raid on a gay bar. The other
two men were released in March.
In a separate
case two men in January were each to a year in prison after admitting to
police that they had sex. The pair had been imprisoned for several
months awaiting trial. Two men were recently arrested in an Internet
dating sting, but then released, and four lesbian women are reportedly
in police custody.
In March
elementary and secondary schools in Cameroon began expelling students
believed to be gay or lesbian. At least 30 students have been expelled
from schools in the financial center of Douala.
The IGLHRC has
fought for the release of men accused of homosexuality and has provided
emergency assistance to help the men survive in prison.
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