Row over Cameroon 'gay' witchhunt (homosexuality, sexuality, bishop, catholic)

Bishka · #1 02-06-2006, 10:23 AM

Cameroon's political and business elites have been rocked by a campaign by tabloid newspapers to "out" top personalities they say are homosexual.

The newspaper editors say they are exposing people who engage in "deviant behaviour". Some 50 people have been named and the papers have sold out.

Homosexual acts are banned in Cameroon, with up to five years in jail.

But the campaign has been condemned by the state communication council for invading people's private lives.

The BBC's Jean-David Mihamle in Yaounde says the campaign has sparked a national debate about gay rights and privacy.

Like much of Africa, Cameroon is a conservative society, where homosexuality is frowned upon.

'Death threats'

Communications Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, who is one of those named, has threatened legal action and told Cameroon's media they risked breaking up families, reports Reuters news agency.

"Whether it is heterosexual or homosexual, sexual intercourse takes place in an intimate environment between two persons," he told media chiefs last month.

We could not remain silent. We had to ring the alarm bell

Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga
L'Anecdote newspaper

However, none of those named have gone to court yet and three people - a minister, a top civil servant and a radio presenter - have denied the claims.

Our reporter says one newspaper had to have two extra print runs and some vendors resorted to selling photocopies to satisfy demand.

The newspapers say they are waiting to defend themselves - and have proof of their allegations.

The publisher of the weekly L'Anecdote, Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, defended headlines such as "Gay are among us".

"We could not remain silent. We had to ring the alarm bell. We don't regret it and we have to do it again... in spite of numerous death threats me and my journalists have had," he told Reuters.

The newspapers also carried a vehement denunciation of homosexuality by Cameroon's Roman Catholic bishop Victor Tonye Bakot who criticised European countries for giving it legitimacy. Last year, lobby group Human Rights Watch condemned the practice of forced anal examinations of those arrested on charges of having gay sex.