Cameroonian lawyer risks everything to defend LGBT rights

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

A human rights NGO she heads, Redhac, was recently suspended by the government and must appear before investigators to answer accusations of money laundering and financing terrorist groups, something she denies.

The 80-year-old says authorities are obstructing her work and believes she is being attacked for her legal advocacy with the LGBT community.

“I will always defend homosexuals because every day they risk their freedom and are imprisoned like dogs,” he tells 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’m defending everyone except homosexuals.”

Dressed in a black dress, Ms Nkom delivers her stark message in a measured voice that reflects years of thoughtful legal arguments.

Under the country’s penal code, both men and women convicted of homosexual sexual relations can be sentenced to up to five years in prison and pay a fine. Members of the LGBT community also face ostracism from their families and society at large.

As a result, Ms Nkom has been seen as a surrogate mother for some people in her country who have been open about their sexuality with their family.

The legal expert has children of her own, but hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others consider her their protector after her work for more than two decades defending those accused of homosexuality.

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

Committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, included in the Constitution of Cameroon, Ms Nkom maintains that freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should be seen as a fundamental right that replaces the penal code.

“Fundamental rights should not be imprisoned, they should not be repressed, they should be protected,” he says.

This is a fight that has put Mrs Nkom in difficulty.

She says she has been physically threatened several times on the street and reveals that when she started in this area of ​​law, she hired bodyguards to help protect her.

But his journey to becoming one of Cameroon’s most outspoken legal figures began much earlier.

In 1969, at age 24, she became the country’s first black lawyer, after studying in both France (the former colonial power) and Cameroon.

She says her then-boyfriend, who later became her husband, encouraged her to continue her studies.

Her previous legal work involved representing the underprivileged and disadvantaged, but it was a chance encounter in 2003 that led her to become involved in the fight to decriminalize homosexuality.

He was in the Douala prosecutor’s office when he observed a group of young people handcuffed in pairs, who did not have the courage to look up.

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

This offended her sense of human rights and she 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,” adds Ms Nkom.

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

Since then she has been involved in dozens of cases. One of the most notable in recent years was his defense of transgender celebrity Shakiro and his friend, Patricia, in 2021.

The two were arrested while eating at a restaurant and later charged with “attempted homosexuality.”

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

“It is a hammer blow. It is the maximum period set out in the law. The message is clear: homosexuals have no place in Cameroon,” Ms Nkom said at the time.

Shakiro, along with Patricia, were later released pending an appeal and have since fled the country.

Since then, the situation for LGBT people has not improved. LGBT activist Sébastien, who runs a charity to support families with gay children, feels things have gotten worse lately.

Last year, a song based on the popular mbolé rhythm was released with a title and lyrics encouraging people to attack and kill homosexuals. It is still widely shared and played regularly in the hottest spots in the country’s major cities.

“People attack us for 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.

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

Mrs Biya, who spends most of her time outside Cameroon, has been quoted as saying that she hoped her candor could shake things up at home.

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

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

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

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

She considers the latest attempt to restrict her efforts to be simply another obstacle, certainly not enough to force her to stop the battle she has been fighting since 2003.