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Cameroon Court Frees Gay Man After 2 Years In Prison Without Trial
02 Mar 2007-
Yaounde- A gay man held for two years in a dank Cameroon prison without
ever having a trial has been released after he was discovered by an
attorney working with the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights
Commission.
The man,
identified only as Alexandre D. to protect his identity, was arrested on
charges of homosexuality when he was only 22.
His situation
came to light when he was discovered by noted human rights attorney
Alice Nkom who was investigating another case involving incarcerated gay
men in the West Africa nation.
Nkom notified
the IGLHC in New York and two other groups, lternatives-Cameroun and
Inter-LGBT in Paris. They hired human rights attorney Michel Togue to
represent Alexandre in a habeas corpus hearing.
It was the
first time Alexandre had been in court.
A judge found
that the government had no evidence in his case. There were no files on
the arrest the government had no evidence to present. Alexandre was
ordered immediately released.
"He could have
spent the rest of his life in prison," Cary Johnson the Senior
Specialist for Africa at the IGLHC told 365Gay.com. "He was lost in the
system."
Johnson said
there could be thousands of gay men like Alexandre languishing in
prisons throughout Africa. "We just don't know," he said.
"We are aware
of at least one other man who is still being held in Kondegui Prison
because of his sexuality," said Charles Gueboguo of
Alternatives-Cameroun.
Consensual
same-sex acts remain a criminal offense punishable by up to 5 years
imprisonment under Article 347 of the Cameroonian Penal code, despite
condemnation of such laws by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
and the UN Human Rights Committee.
Alexandre is
the seventeenth Cameroonian person in the last year to have been
released after spending time in jail or charged with homosexuality, said
Johnson.
Last month two
Cameroon men were released after spending a year in prison on charges of
homosexuality. They were sentenced after admitting to police that they
had sex.
In 2005 11
other men were imprisoned on charges of homosexuality. For nine months
they remained behind bars awaiting trial after being 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.
Last year two
Cameroon newspapers went on a witch hunt, listing the names of people
suspected of being gay.
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