YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Authorities in Cameroon have illegally shut down a human rights workshop in Yaoundé that was to include discussion of the rights of LGBT people and arrested one of the workshop organizers. According to Human Rights Watch, the action violated rights to freedom of assembly and expression under both Cameroonian and international law.
The workshop, scheduled to be held at a Yaoundé hotel, had been authorized by the local sub-prefect in accordance with Cameroonian law. But the sub-prefect revoked his authorization as the event was beginning, upon realizing that the “human rights” to be discussed included the rights of sexual minorities. Police arrested Stéphane Koche, an activist working with the convening organizations, and detained him for three hours before releasing him without charge.
“Cameroonians have the right to freedom of assembly and expression, even if their viewpoints are not popular in the eyes of the authorities,” said Boris Dittrich, LGBT rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
