Gay Rights Activist in Cameroon Tortured and Killed

Eric Ohena Lembembe Found Dead At Home on July 15

You don’t want to be gay and working for GLBT equality in Cameroon, where homosexuality is punishable by prison terms for up to five years.  According to Human Rights Watch, the country prosecutes more people for gay sex than any other in sub-Saharan Africa.

But Eric Ohena Lembembe was not imprisoned.  Instead, he was tortured with an iron and had his neck and feet broken.  Found dead in his padlocked home by friends who were concerned when he didn’t show up for a scheduled meeting two days prior, his death is regarded as a hate crime. deplored by Human Rights Watch.

He was killed just weeks after issuing a public warning about the threat posed by “anti-gay thugs,” according to Human Rights Watch. He spoke out against the recent break-ins at the offices of groups advocating for gay rights.

Gay Killings Not Uncommon

Lembembe start mobilizing when he saw a sharp increase in anti-gay prosecutions beginning in 2005. His death follows several attacks on LGBT advocates in Cameroon. Assailants torched the headquarters of Alternatives-Cameroon, one of Lembembe’s affiliations on June 26..  It provided HIV services to LGBT people in Douala, the second largest city.

Also in June 2013, human rights lawyer Michel Togue, who represents clients charged with homosexuality, had his legal files and laptop stolen after being robbed. Alice Nikom, another lawyer who represents LGBT clients, has received death threats like Togue.  In 2011, Uganda’s David Kato and South Africa’s lesbian activist Noxolo Nogwaza were killed. And so it continues…

What the U.S. State Dept. & Others Say

The U.S. State Department has released a statement on July 17 about Lembembe’s death saying “we deplore the brutal murder of Lembembe. We condemn this terrible act in the strongest terms and urge the Cameroonian authorities to thoroughly and promptly investigate and prosecute those responsible for his death.” Neela Ghosal, senior LGBT rights researcher at HRW, said “President Biya should break his silence on the wave of homophobic violence in Cameroon and publicly condemn this brutal attack. The Cameroonian authorities’s utter failure to stem homophobic violence sends the message that these attacks can be carried out with impunity. What worries me is that in the previous incidents of homophobic threats or violence, the police have done the basics but it’s never gone beyond taking statements.” It also has other activists in the community worried about their safety.

Lembembe’s Accomplishments

Lembembe also collaborated with The Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEPHO). One of his final projects was the research and launch of a March 2013 report on prosecutions for consensual same-sex conduct. He documented blackmail, arrests, and violence against Cameroon’s gay community.

He was first a journalist and later served as Executive Director of a Yaounde-based human rights organization called CAMFAIDS. He wrote for the Erasing 76 Crimes blog focusing on countries where homosexuality is illegal.

He also contributed several chapters to “From Wrongs to Gay Rights,” a book on the global gay rights movement, released last February. The author of this book, Colin Stewart, praised Lembembe as “a courageous, diligent colleague who worked hard as a reporter to expose the evils that are abroad in Cameroon, even while he worked as an activist to inform the oppressed LGBT people of that nation and to protect their rights.”