Cameroon, a country that is said has strong laws
against Homosexuality have been in the news lately because these cases have
said to become a bigger issue. The Human Rights Watch found that at least 28
people have been prosecuted for same-sex conduct in Cameroon since 2010. Most
of these cases are said to be a violation of one’s human rights which includes;
torture, forced confessions, denial of access to legal counsel, and
discriminatory treatment by law enforcement and judicial officials. Cameroon’s
penal code punishes “sexual relations between persons of the same sex” for up
to five years in prison. Another shocking issue to most of these cases is the
fact that individuals are convicted based on little or no evidence at all. Most
Cameroonians face jail tome solely because they are suspected of being gay or lesbian.
In one particular case, two young transgender people in Yaoundé were arrested,
a judge said their choice of alcoholic beverage – Bailey’s liqueur, which the
judge regarded as a “woman’s drink”, constituted proof of their homosexuality.
Cameroon which is a member of the Commonwealth, penal code is said to be a
violation of international human rights. Alice Nkom, president of Alternatives-Cameron,
Association for the Defense of Gays and Lesbians (ADEFHO) says that the
government and courts need to recognize that when it comes to Cameroon’s
international human rights commitments, they cannot pick and choose on the
basis of personal biases.
Cameroon
is just one of many countries that strongly oppose same sex marriages and as
Americans we should be thankful for the type of country we live in. As we have
seen in lessons that we have covered earlier, homosexuality is something that
is becoming more accepting to most Americans but in other countries it is not tolerated
by any means.
1:54Pm, 3/22/2013, Sandrene Nelson
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