Cameroon: Arrested Men Subjected to Forced Anal Exams

Four men from a group of recently arrested LGBTIQ+ activists in Cameroon have been subjected to forced anal exams in a misguided and degrading attempt to find “evidence” of homosexuality.

Thirteen LGBTQ+ activists and members of the public were detained on 30 September during a police raid at the Douala offices of Alternatives-Cameroun, an organisation that advocates for the health and human rights of the LGBTIQ+ community.

The staff were concluding a meeting focused on an HIV public health initiative at the time of the raid.

While nine of those arrested were either released on bail or freed without charges, five individuals initially remained in custody. Erasing 76 Crimes has reported on the authorities’ treatment of these detainees.

The publication revealed that the prosecutor in the case ordered forced anal exams on four of the detainees – three staff members from Alternatives-Cameroun and a 17-year-old client – despite their objections.

The exams were authorised on 3 October and carried out at a local hospital. The results were inconclusive, leading to the release of the client.

Forced anal exams are conducted under the guise of providing “proof” of homosexual conduct and are intended to ascertain if a person has engaged in receptive anal intercourse.

The World Health Organization has denounced the exams as a form of violence and torture while the World Medical Association has called on medical professionals to stop conducting the “unscientific examinations”.

The Independent Forensic Experts Group has condemned forced anal examinations, stating that they have “no value in detecting abnormalities in anal sphincter tone that can be reliably attributed to consensual anal intercourse.”

Four Alternatives-Cameroun staff members remain incarcerated at New Bell Prison as they await trial on charges related to homosexuality. Their next hearing is scheduled for 13 November.

The detained staff members are Denis Watonawa, a psychological counsellor; Oumarou Ousmanou, a peer educator; Fotie Zidane, another peer educator; and Hermine Ngo Ndaptie, the organisation’s drop-in centre manager. Reports indicate the men are malnourished and in deteriorating health.

Under Cameroon’s Penal Code, consensual same-sex relations are punishable by prison sentences of up to five years.