For Immediate Release December 1, 2005
Media Contact: Geoffrey Knox: 212-229-0540

(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.

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