CAMEROONIAN LGBT ACTIVIST FACING ARREST

A leading Cameroonian LGBT activist fears being arrested after she successfully applied for international funding to combat homophobia, reports The Huffington Post.

A representative from the country’s Ministry of Communication is reported to have suggested that Alice Nkom could be arrested in the coming days for “crimes against Cameroon’s law, sovereignty, and independence” after she received the grant from the European Union.

Nkom is a lawyer and the founder of the non-profit Association to Defend Homosexuals (ADEFHO). She was awarded a 300,000 Euro grant for her project “Support and training for sexual minorities” on January 4.

“I believe I will be arrested in the coming days, but I will not lose sleep over this or, especially, abandon what we have begun together,” Nkom wrote in an e-mail to other activists.

Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon and penalties include fines and up to five years imprisonment.

In February 2010, Human Rights Watch highlighted attacks on people suspected of being gay by police, politicians, the media, and even their own communities in Cameroon.

It said that “prejudice and discrimination against the gay and lesbian population of Cameroon is pervasive”.