12. The Committee remains deeply concerned about the criminalization of consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex, punishable with imprisonment from six months to fiver years under article 347(bis) of the Penal Code. As the Committee and other international human rights mechanisms have underlined, such criminalization violates the rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination enshrined in the Covenant.
The information provided by the State party did not allay the Committee’s concern about arbitrariness in the implementation of article 347 (bis), also observed by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its Opinion No. 22/2006 (Cameroon (A/HRC/4/40/Add.1), and about reported cases of inhumane and degrading treatment of persons detained on charges of having sexual relations with a person of the same sex.
The Committee is also concerned that the criminalization of consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex impedes the implementation of effective education programmes in respect of HIV/AIDS prevention. (arts. 2, 7, 9, 17 and 26)
The State party should take immediate steps towards decriminalizing consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex, in order to bring its law into conformity with the Covenant. The State party should also take appropriate measures to address social prejudice and stigmatization of homosexuality and should clearly demonstrate that it does not tolerate any form of harassment, discrimination and violence against individuals because of their sexual orientation.
Public health programmes to combat HIV/AIDS should have a universal reach and ensure universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.
Link to full text of the report: Concluding Observations-CCPR-Cameroon-2010-eng