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Tanzania walked back a claim that it was going after LGBT people. Now Amnesty says 10 men have alrea
Source: Washington Post
Tanzania walked back a claim that it was going after LGBT people. Now Amnesty says 10 men have already been arrested.
By Siobhán O'Grady
November 6 at 4:47 PM
Even without a special committee searching for LGBT people, Tanzania is already a difficult place to be gay. Under the country’s anti-homosexuality legislation, those found guilty of having “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” could spend decades in jail.
Then in late October, Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, announced he planned to form a team that would seek out and identify gay people to prosecute them. At a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s economic hub, he told reporters he had “information about the presence of many homosexuals in our province,” claiming they “boast on social networks.”
“Give me their names,” he said. “My ad hoc team will begin to get their hands on them next Monday.”
The suggestion prompted near-immediate backlash from human rights groups, and the Foreign Ministry later backtracked on Makonda’s suggestion, saying it didn’t reflect the official government position.
But Amnesty International announced Tuesday that 10 men had been arrested on the island of Zanzibar during the weekend, after police were tipped off about a possible same-sex marriage ceremony.
-snip-
By Siobhán O'Grady
November 6 at 4:47 PM
Even without a special committee searching for LGBT people, Tanzania is already a difficult place to be gay. Under the country’s anti-homosexuality legislation, those found guilty of having “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” could spend decades in jail.
Then in late October, Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, announced he planned to form a team that would seek out and identify gay people to prosecute them. At a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s economic hub, he told reporters he had “information about the presence of many homosexuals in our province,” claiming they “boast on social networks.”
“Give me their names,” he said. “My ad hoc team will begin to get their hands on them next Monday.”
The suggestion prompted near-immediate backlash from human rights groups, and the Foreign Ministry later backtracked on Makonda’s suggestion, saying it didn’t reflect the official government position.
But Amnesty International announced Tuesday that 10 men had been arrested on the island of Zanzibar during the weekend, after police were tipped off about a possible same-sex marriage ceremony.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/11/06/tanzania-walked-back-claim-that-it-was-going-after-lgbt-people-now-amnesty-says-men-have-already-been-arrested/
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