YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – More than 50,000 people have signed a petition demanding the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, release two men jailed in the country just for being gay. In November the two men were sentenced to five years in prison, the harshest penalty the court could impose under Cameroonian law.
During the trial, according to AFP, the judge issued some particularly homophobic comments, leading one lawyer to call the trial “a bad ruling,” and leading Amnesty International to label these men as “prisoners of conscience.”
The sentence comes on the heels of increased homophobia in Cameroon, and debates over legislation that would further criminalize homosexuality in the country. Human rights attorney Alice Nkom told AllOut.org that, “Violence against gay people in Cameroon has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels; the situation is quickly becoming a crisis. The president of Cameroon can put a stop to this, and if he feels enough pressure he will do so.”
The petition at Change.org ends with the call to action, “Help send a message to Cameroon that the world is watching, and won’t stand silent while people are sentenced to jail solely because of their sexual orientation. Demand the release of these gay men from prison.”
The Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEFHO), a grassroots Cameroon LGBT group, began the petition after a judge ordered the two men’s imprisonment.
According to ADEFHO, the men never engaged in sexual conduct and were only walking out of a bar together when police detained them. “Franky and Jonas should never have been condemned,” said Stéphane Koche of ADEFHO. “If Cameroon had a transparent and fair judiciary system, and if the president and minister of justice valued the human rights of all Cameroonians, Franky and Jonas would be free men today.”
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