Lettre ouverte de IGLHC adressée au Ministre de la justice du Cameroun. (la version anglaise)

For Immediate Release                                                       Media Contact:

December 1, 2005                                                                http://www.iglhrc.org

 

Cameroon:  IGLRHC Calls on Minister of Justice to Release 11 Men Unfairly Detained in Jail and to Prevent a Government “Medical Exam” to Determine if They Are Gay

(December 1, New York, NY) — The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today delivered a letter to the Minister of Justice of the West African nation of Cameroon urging him to release 11 men detained for the last seven months on suspicion of “sodomy” and to prevent a government-ordered “medical examination” to whether the men have engaged in homosexual conduct.  Seven other human rights organizations—both American and African—signed the letter to S.E. Monsieur Amadou ALI, entreating the minister to prevent the medical examinations that have been ordered by a government prosecutor. In the letter, IGLHRC and the co-signers state that:

These examinations have no investigative value, are abusive, intrusive, and when conducted non-consensually and under incarcerated conditions, amount to cruel and inhuman treatment; as such, they constitute a serious violation of the human rights of the detainees.  In countries where they have been administered, these examinations have caused grave physical and psychological suffering to their victims.

IGLHRC is also calling for the immediate release of the 11 men, all between the ages of 17 and 35, who were arrested in a nightclub and have been held since May at Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, in the 1994 case of Toonen v Australia held that the existence of sodomy laws violates protections of privacy and non-discrimination in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).  Cameroon’s accession to the ICCPR in 1984 means that it must adhere to this standard. 

Joining IGLHRC in signing the letter calling for protection from abuse and release from jail were the following organizations:  Human Rights Watch; Doctors of the World; Physicians for Human Rights; GlobalRights, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Behind the Mask, South Africa; and Legal Defense and Assistance Project, Lagos, Nigeria.

“The Cameroon government is about to engage in degrading and inhuman treatment of these men in clear violation of their human rights and we are all asking the Minister of Justice to intervene,” stated Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC’s Senior Specialist for Africa.

Physical examinations of the anal regions of men arrested for homosexuality have been documented in a number of countries including Egypt, Romania and Zimbabwe as a means of “proving” homosexual conduct.  These examinations rely on the false idea that anal sex leaves lasting lesions or tears around the anus. Often involving the insertion of instruments into the anus, they are profoundly humiliating to those forced to undergo them.

“The pain, humiliation and invasiveness involved in these forced examinations makes them a direct violation of human rights norms,” stated Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC’s Executive Director. “Cameroon is a signatory to regional and international agreements that prohibit such treatment, and we ask the government to respect its international obligations.”

The agreements to which Cameroon is a signatory and their relevant articles include:

- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7, which prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 16, which requires states to prevent such treatment when committed by or performed with the acquiescence of public officials. 

- African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, Articles 4 and 5, which say that every human being shall be entitled to respect for the integrity of his person and that “[a]ll forms of exploitation and degradation of man particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited.

IGLHRC has been working closely with human rights organizations and committed individuals in Cameroon and throughout Africa over the last several months to assist the detainees, including providing emergency food and supplies to the prisoners since conditions in Cameroonian prisons are so severe. IGLHRC is also assisting with legal expenses.   A noted Cameroonian human rights attorney has already successfully applied for the transfer of one of the detainees, a 17- year-old young man, from the adult population into a juvenile facility.

Background on the case:

On 21 May 2005, gendarmes from the Nlongka Brigade arrested 17 men at a nightclub believed to frequented by gays and lesbians. These arrests were first reported by the local newspaper, Mutations, and were confirmed by the United States Embassy in Cameroon. National television in Cameroon and local Channel 2 broadcasted images of the young men after their arrest. The 11 men who remain in detention are those too poor to find a means to be released or to hire a lawyer. Many have been abandoned by their families due to publicity related to the case.

According to section 347 (bis) Ordinance No 72-16 of the 28th September 1972 penal code, homosexuality is an offense punishable by up to five years in prison; however it is rarely acted upon. Public sentiment regarding gay and lesbian identity is harsh and most same-gender loving people in Cameroon live in secrecy and fear of exposure.

In July of this year, IGLHRC and Behind the Mask, a South Africa-based LGBT media outlet and human rights organization, launched a letter-writing campaign on behalf of the detainees, but the government failed to release the men.

According to Johnson, “with its order of medical exams, the prosecution is grabbing at straws.

The only ‘crime’ of the Yaoundé 11 was their presence in a nightclub where they sought to spend a pleasant Sunday evening with friends. Today they are living in fear, trapped in horrendous conditions in overcrowded jail cells with no knowledge of what will happen to them next.  IGLHRC and our fellow human rights organizations are urging the Cameroonian government to immediately and permanently drop all charges.”

The letter from IGLHRC and other human rights organizations to the Minister of Justice in Cameroon ends by stating:

Honorable Minister, these men were doing nothing more than exercising their right to peacefully associate and assemble with others.  We ask that you assist in gaining their release so that they may rejoin their families and continue on with their lives. 

For a copy of the letter to the Minister of Justice in Cameroon, please contact Geoffrey Knox at 212-229-0540 or gknox@geoffreyknox.com.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is the only human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or murder because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists on the ground in countries around the world, by monitoring and documenting abuses, by engaging offending governments, and by educating international human rights officials. A US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Buenos Aires.   http://www.iglhrc.org. 

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THERE IS NO HIV/AIDS WORK AND NO FAMILY WITHOUT US:

A DECLARATION BY LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PEOPLE, MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN, AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH WOMEN IN AFRICA DIRECTED TO AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS

December 2005, Abuja

 Honourable Ministers of Health, Directors of National AIDS Control Programs, Members of the Human Family:

 We, the same-gender loving people, men who have sex men (MSM), and women who have sex with women (WSW) in Africa, demand your attention to the continuous discrimination and marginalization that we experience in the fight against STIs and HIV in Africa.

 All over the world, we are the highly vulnerable to STIs and HIV/AIDS. We note with grave concern that in all African countries there are no government-driven programs directed at addressing STIs and HIV/AIDS among same-gender loving people, MSM and WSW.

 Our transmission and prevention programs are crippled by the negative legal, cultural, social and religious environments. Our work, human relations and expression are all criminalized and stigmatized. Our inclusive efforts are oppressed and stigmatized by the majority of faith-based organizations. These FBOs access funding from national HIV programs but are exclusive in their implementation of these programs.

 African countries are experiencing a high HIV seroprevalence and a high burden of STIs. As same gender loving people, MSM, and WSW, we are exposed to higher levels of stigma and discrimination and thus are more vulnerable to infections. We need qualitative and quantitative research into the factors that place us at risk to STIs and HIV. We need education and training for professionals in order to adequately attend to these.

 We are frustrated by the huge absence of appropriate STI and HIV transmission and prevention materials specifically geared toward us in our countries. We want to engage in respectful and loving safer sex practices and therefore demand adequate provision of appropriate prevention materials. We want target-specific pamphlets, dental dams, water-based lubricants, appropriate condoms and gloves. We demand access to STI and HIV treatment.

STIs and HIV are an African problem and as members of the African family, we demand equal access to information, materials and treatment for STIs and HIV. Denying us these basic universal rights...is ignoring our rightful place in society, in this human family as fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, cousins, nephews and nieces and so on. It is denying us our inherent right to dignity. We are an integral part of the African family, and the struggle against STIs and HIV.

 

SIGNED BY: Behind The Mask (South Africa), Durban Lesbian & Gay Community & Health Centre (South Africa), Frank And Candy (Uganda), Gay Kenya, Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana, Gays And Lesbians of Zimbabwe, My Gay Pal (Cameroon) and (SPIN) Support Project In Nigeria.

 

For more information contact:

Nonhlanhla Mkhize, South Africa,  mc@gaycentre.org.za

Joel Nana, West Africa, joel@mygaypal.com