By
Tabie Bofor
A homosexual suspect was almost given mob justice
on April 20, 2016 when it emerged that he was spotted with another man
allegedly in deep romance in the Soppo neighborhood in Buea, Southwest of Cameroon.
Kamwa Anthony, a film maker ,was reportedly seen by a neighbor with his so-called
love partner, a certain man whose name we only got as Mbeng.
But for
the intervention of friends, Kamwa Anthony, born on 20 January 1977, might have
been lynched, according to eye witness accounts.
How he escaped from the mob that had gathered remained a mystery;but unfortunately his partner Mbeng was seriously beaten, resulting in his demise,reports said.
Kamwa is now said to have gone into
hiding for fear of prosecution and or persecution.
Homosexuality
is a crime in Cameroon, punishable by Section 347 of the Penal Code in its
section 347.
According to the aforementioned section,
“Whoever has sexual relationship with a person of the same sex shall be
punished with imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine from
20.000Fcfa to 200.000 Fcfa"
Although
Cameroon is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and also a signatory to the United
Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on June
27, 1984, this central African country is yet to decriminalize homosexuality
Human rights experts strongly argue that countries
that are signatories to rights protection conventions should give protection Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people.
But
Cameroon is not the only country where homosexuality is considered as a crime.
In fact over 50 countries are yet to decriminalize it.
It
is public knowledge that many homosexuals in the past several years have been
prosecuted and jailed in Cameroon.
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