I wish I have good news to share from Africa, but it all seems so gloomy!
Heartbreaking news comes in from Cameroon. Another gay rights activist brutally murdered.
Prominent Cameroonian gay rights activist and journalist Eric Lembembe has been killed in the capital, Yaounde, a rights group says. Mr Lembembe’s neck and feet appeared to have been broken and his face, hands, and feet burned with an iron, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23331832
According to the Human Rights Watch, the friends found his front door padlocked on the outside but could see Lembembe’s body lying on his bed through the window.
According to one friend, Lembembe’s neck and feet appeared to have been broken, and his face, hands, and feet had been burned with an iron.
The attack happened weeks after Lembembe issued a public warning about the threat posed by ‘anti-gay thugs’.
Despite the friends of Lembembe having approached the police, the authorities have yet to launch an investigation.
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-activist-tortured-killed-cameroon160713#sthash.zISSjyoX.dpuf
Oh, Africa, why so much hate towards your fellow humans? With hate fueled ignorance, you dig the grave of your children and mortgage your very present and future.
There will be a protest on Tuesday 23rd July, 2013 outside the Cameroon High Commission, London.
Protest against the torture & murder of LGBT & HIV activist Eric Lembembe in Cameroon. Tuesday 23 July from 2-4pm outside Cameroon High Commission, 84 Holland Park, London W11 3SB. Organised by African LGBTI group, Out &Proud Diamond Group, with the support of the Peter Tatchell Foundation. Join us. Nearest tube: Holland Park (Central Line).
Get angry and take action. If you can’t join us, write or email the Cameroon President Paul Biya via the Cameroon High Commission in London: info@cameroonhighcommission.co.uk You can also phone the High Commission: 020 7727 0771 or fax them: 020 7792 9353
These are the demands of Tuesday’s protest:
We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Eric Lembembe in Cameroon. The government of Cameroon should be held to account. We are urging the following:
1. We demand an immediate investigation into the death of our fellow human rights activists.
2. Prosecution of all responsible.
3. An immediate release of all those in prison in Cameroon because of being LGBTI.
4. Allowing all LGBTI persons in Cameroon to exercise their rights like everybody else and access all medical services without discrimination.This is the website of the Cameroon High Commission in London: http://www.cameroonhighcommission.co.uk/
If you can, please be there to show your solidarity. Also consider writing or sending an email to Cameroon President Paul Biya via Cameroon High Commission.
No one should be killed for demanding equality for all. Persecution comes in different colours, shapes and sizes. Be outraged enough by this murder to stand up for equality and justice for all. Love Not Hate!
All men/women have a right to live their life in the best possible manner&deserve to be respected for who they are. Human dignity&respect is undermined when we persecute others for their sexual orientation out of bigotry&intolerance. Our individualism&uniqueness accords nature its rhythm and symphony that symbolizes the beauty in nature and since lgbti’s lifestyle poses no threat nor danger to others, it is sheer hypocrisy, ignorance and undue intolerance for innocuous nuances of those we perceive as different from us, to be criminalized or worse still, make them object of hate-attack. No part of our human existence must be allowed to gravitate towards this precipice of hate-crimes, not even African country for that matter, to succinctly put it, ‘injustice in any part of our world is threat to liberty everywhere’.
Otunuga Adegboyega:
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Very true, and an injury to one is an injury to all. International solidarity is important .
I sent a letter. I don’t know if it will do any good, but it’s all that I can do from the US. I hope this is addressed and Eric Lembembe gets the justice he deserves. I only wish this didn’t have to happen in the first place.
Thank you, Yemisi, for making me aware of things outside of my own scope of awareness. I have enjoyed your writing since you started blogging on FTB.
@Timid Atheist- Thanks, every voice demanding for progress counts, therefore your letter matters!