Eric Ohena Lembembe, prominent gay rights activist tortured, killed in Cameroon

Eric Ohena Lembembe, a prominent LGBT rights advocate and journalist, was found dead at his home in Yaoundé, Cameroon on Monday evening.

According to the Human Rights Watch Tuesday, Lembembe’s friends discovered his body at his home after being unable to contact him by telephone for two days.

LGBTQ Nation Reports:
They found his front door padlocked on the outside, but could see Lembembe’s body lying on his bed through the window.

They alerted Cameroonian police, who broke down the door. According to those present Lembembe’s neck and feet appeared to have been broken, and his face, hands, and feet had been burned with an iron.

“We don’t know who killed Eric Lembembe, or why he was killed, but one thing is clear: the Cameroonian authorities’ utter failure to stem homophobic violence sends the message that these attacks can be carried out with impunity,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher at HRW.

“The police should not rest until the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice. President Biya should break his silence on the wave of homophobic violence in Cameroon and publicly condemn this brutal attack,” added Ghoshal.

Lembembe was among the most prominent activists in one of Africa’s most hostile countries for sexual minorities. First as a journalist and later as executive director of CAMFAIDS, a Yaounde-based human rights organization, he documented violence, blackmail and arrests targeting members of Cameroon’s gay community.

Eric Ohena Lembembe was also a regular contributor to the Erasing 76 Crimes blog, which focuses on countries where homosexuality is illegal, and he wrote several chapters of a book released in February on the global gay rights movement titled “From Wrongs to Gay Rights.”

Lembembe’s killing follows several attacks LGBT rights advocates in Cameroon.