LGBTQI vs. Human Rights in Cameroon

Cameroon is failing to protect the people that are a part of their community which includes people that are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex. There has been increased violence and abuse against LGBTQI people in Cameroon. 

In 2016, The penal code criminalized consensual same-sex sexual activity for both men and women. There is a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine. However, the human rights violation did not start in 2016. The first penal code was enacted in 1965 and it did not criminalize homosexuality. However, In 1972 an amendment was passed that same-sex sexual activity is illegal. Despite the Committee against Torture’s Concluding Observations in 2017, calling for the decriminalization of consensual same-sex relations, the Republic of Cameroon continues to criminalize consensual relations between same-sex. 

Human rights watch stated that security forces have arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and threatened at least 24 people, including a 17-year-old boy, for alleged consensual same-sex conduct and gender nonconformity, since February 2021,  At least one of them was forced to undergo an HIV test and anal examination. In 2022, Government forces and armed groups committed human rights abuses, including unlawful killings and the detainment of many. They arrested 6 people and detained 11. It was alleged that there was consensual same-sex conduct as well as gender nonconformity. Gender nonconformity is a term given to people who do not follow others' stereotypes of how they should look or act based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Human rights watch indicated that there was a crowd of at least 8-10 men armed with machetes, knives, sticks, and more who attacked a group of LGBTQI. 

An example of a human rights violation that occurred in Cameroon consists of two transgender women named Shakiro and Patricia who were charged with homosexuality-related offenses. They were in a restaurant when they were attacked for wearing women's clothing and not carrying identification. The attackers beat them for about 30 minutes and stripped them naked while recording the whole thing. They were stripped naked because the attackers wanted to prove that they weren't women but instead men regardless of what they identified as. Shakiro stated that "I was stripped naked and hit everywhere on my body by several people, “I was kicked and slapped. I had to play dead – it was the only way to survive.” A police report was filed against the attackers however,  discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) is institutionalized.

Shakiro and Patricia without the presence of their lawyers were forced to sign statements they were not allowed to read, and they were beaten and threatened. Their detention conditions were extremely poor. They were constantly insulted by prison guards and other inmates because of their sexual orientation. They were chained up upon arrival at New Bell prison. They were being held with many men in small cells. Shakiro is in a cell with about 70 men, while Patricia is in another cell with about 50 men. Holding them with men is problematic, they had stated they would prefer to stay with women. They had stated that the male inmates would always verbally assault them, saying horrible things like that they belong in hell and that they are faggots. This is a human rights violation. Human rights violations consist of torture, arbitrary arrest, degrading, and discrimination. They went through all of this. They are human and should be treated like it. They should not have been imprisoned in the first place. 

Gendarmes arrested Njeuken Loic (known as “Shakiro”) and Mouthe Roland (known as “Patricia”), two transgender women.

Government officials in Cameroon defended the criminalization of consensual same-sex activity by claiming that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights permit countries to limit freedoms in the interests of preserving public order and that individuals have a duty to preserve African values and morals.

Regardless of this inhumane treatment against the LGBTQ, not much has changed. Identifying as LGBTQI in Cameroon is still a crime. Though they state they are rectifying laws on gender equality, the government had stated that "they still find it a criminal offense and that doing it publicly is bad and will have punishable offenses." It is believed that the Cameroonian government and others justify the

unlawful killings and human rights abuses through the use of the bible. 70 percent of the population in Cameroon is Christian. It was stated "For Christians, we know that a relationship is supposed to be between a man and a woman and not people of the same gender. In addition, Blaise Chamango, director of Human is Right, a Cameroonian NGO said the police use the penal code to justify the arbitrary arrest of LGBTQI. Overall,  Religion plays a significant role because in Cameroon religion "is strongly against the LGBTQI community. 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/11/cameroon-rising-violence-against-lgbti-people

https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/01/24/report-documents-continued-persecution-of-lgbtq-intersex-people-in-cameroon/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOI_VekUW20