Cameroonian lawyer is risking everything to defend LGBT rights

Despite being publicly vilified, threatened and humiliated, veteran Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom is determined to defend the rights of gay people. in his country

A human rights NGO he runs, Redhac, was recently suspended by the government and must appear before investigators to answer charges of money laundering and financing terrorist groups, which he denies.

The 80-year-old says authorities are interfering with his work and believes he is targeting him for his legal advocacy with the LGBT community.

“I will always defend homosexuals, because every day they put their freedom in danger, and they are thrown into prison like dogs,” he told the BBC in a firm tone, speaking in his office in the city of Douala.

“My job is to defend people. I don’t see why I would say I defend everybody except gay people.”

Dressed in a black robe, Ms. Nkom delivers her stern message in a measured voice that reflects years of thoughtful legal argument.

Under the country’s penal code, both men and women found guilty of homosexual sex can face up to five years in prison and a fine. Members of the LGBT community also experience ostracism from their families and wider society.

As a result, Ms. Nkom has been seen as a surrogate parent to some of her countrymen who have been open about their sexuality with their family.

The legal expert has children of his own, but hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others see him as a protector after more than two decades of work defending those accused of homosexuality.

“She is like our father and our mother. She is the mother we find when our families have abandoned us,” says Sébastien, an LGBT activist, not his real name.

Committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contained in Cameroon’s constitution, Ms. Nkom argues that non-discrimination based on sexual orientation should be considered a fundamental right that supersedes the penal code.

“You should not imprison basic rights, you should not repress them, you should protect them,” he says.

It is a struggle that has put Mrs. Nkom in difficulty.

He says he has been physically threatened several times on the street, and explains that when he started in this area of ​​the law he hired bodyguards to help protect him.

But his journey to becoming one of Cameroon’s most prominent legal figures began long before that.

In 1969, at the age of 24, she became the first black female lawyer in the country, after studying both in France – the former colonial power – and in Cameroon.

She says she was encouraged to study by her boyfriend at the time, who later became her husband.

His earlier legal work involved representing the poor and needy, but it was a chance encounter in 2003 that led him to become involved in the fight to decriminalize homosexuality.

When he saw a group of young men in the Douala prosecutor’s office handcuffed in pairs, they did not have the courage to get up.

“When I checked the court file, I realized they were being tried for homosexuality,” he says.

This offended the sense of human rights and it was very clear that sexual minorities should be included among those whose rights were protected by the constitution.

“I decided to fight to ensure that this fundamental right to freedom was respected,” Ms. Nkom added.

He founded the Association for the Defense of Homosexuality (Adefho) in 2003.

Since then he has been involved in dozens of cases. One of the most popular in recent years was the defense of the transgender celebrity Shakiro and a friend Patricia in 2021.

The two were arrested while eating in a restaurant and later accused of “attempted homosexuality”.

They were sentenced to five years for violating the penal code and violating public decency.

“It’s a hammer blow. It’s the maximum period specified by law. The message is clear: homosexuals have no place in Cameroon,” said Mrs. Nkom at the time.

Shakiro, along with Patricia, was later released pending appeal and has since fled the country.

Since then, the situation of LGBT people has not improved. LGBT activist Sébastien, who runs a charity to help families with gay children, believes things have gotten worse recently.

Last year, a song based on the popular mbolé rhythm was released, with a title and lyrics that encouraged homosexuals to be targeted and killed. It’s still expanding, and is regularly voted the trendiest place in the country’s major cities.

“People attack us because of this song that glorifies crime,” says Sébastien.

LGBT people have to hide their sexual identity but “some people set traps to approach us and attack us or report us to the police,” he says.

Ms Nkom says that when Brenda Biya, the daughter of President Paul Biya, came out publicly last year to say she was a lesbian, she thought she could help change the law.

Mrs. Biya – who spends most of her time outside of Cameroon – has been He said he hoped his opening would change things at home.

Mrs. Nkom senses an opportunity. “I’m using the Brenda case as a precedent. Now I have a case I can challenge the president,” he says.

The lawyer also called on Mrs. Biya to do more for the LGBT community in Cameroon.

“Brenda still hasn’t answered me since I made the statement in the media, but I know she will.”

For now, however, he will continue with his legal work.

He sees the latest attempt to curtail his efforts as another obstacle, certainly not enough Stop the fight that has been going on since 2003.