Cameroon Man Jailed For Being Gay Dies From Hernia

Roger Jean-Claude Mbede, a gay man who was jailed in 2011 for expressing his love to another man and was later declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, died on Friday after his family removed him from the hospital where he had been seeking treatment for a hernia, lawyer Alice Nkom said.

'His family said he was a curse for them and that we should let him die,' she said.

 Cameroon brings more cases against suspected gays than any other African country, according to Human Rights Watch. The rights group said in a March 2013 report that at least 28 people had been charged under the law in the past three years.

Lambert Lamba, a Cameroonian activist who works on behalf of sexual minorities, said Mbede had been out of the hospital for about one month prior to his death and had received no medical care during that time.

Mbede developed the hernia while in prison. In July 2012, he was granted provisional release on medical grounds, according to Human Rights Watch, and went into hiding. An appeals court upheld his conviction in December 2012.
Cameroonian officials have been unapologetic about their enforcement of the anti-gay law, and have rejected recommendations from the U.N.


Human Rights Council to protect sexual minorities from violence. Appearing before the council in September 2013, Anatole Nkou, Cameroon’s ambassador to Geneva, testified that a prominent gay rights activist found tortured and killed last year died because of his “personal life,” prompting outcry from international rights groups.
So it is not only Nigeria after all..