U.N. tells Cameroon to legalize gays

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has told Cameroon to
decriminalize gay sex, end anti-LGBT prejudice and stigmatization, and
assure that HIV-positive people receive adequate care.

The July 29 move followed a presentation to the committee by Human Rights
Watch and the LGBT group Alternatives-Cameroun.

“Since 2005, Alternatives-Cameroun, Human Rights Watch and other
Cameroonian and international organizations have documented abuses and
violence against LGBT people in Cameroon,” Human Rights Watch said in an
Aug. 19 media release. “Suspected homosexual men have been arrested and
beaten on their bodies, heads and even the soles of their feet while in
custody. Women suffer violence in their families if they are suspected of
being lesbians. In some cases, they have been forced to leave their homes
or their children have been taken away from them.”

Alternatives-Cameroun head Steve Nemande said that implementation of the
UN recommendations would result in Cameroon’s doing “the bare minimum to
realize the fundamental human rights enshrined in its national
constitution.”

By Rex Wockner