Cameroon police arrest and torture 25 men for being gay

Police in Cameroon have arrested 25 men on suspicion of being gay.

Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon, with those convicted of homosexuality facing up to five years in prison.

The arrests were made in the early hours of Saturday morning, as police raided institutions in the capital city of Yaoundé which are known to be popular with the local gay community.

Soldiers of the 21st Motorized Infantry Brigade patrol in the streets of Buea, South-West Region of Cameroon on April 26, 2018. - A social crisis that began in November 2016 has turned into armed conflict since October 2017. Several small armed groups demand the independence of the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, bordering Nigeria. (Photo by ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP/Getty Images)

(ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP/Getty)

The officers broke the door down at Le Mistral, a cabaret, after failing in their attempts to convince staff that they were simply customers trying to get into the locked venue.

One of the seven people arrested at the cabaret – which included a dancer, a waiter and security guard – said: “We informed them that the tavern was already closed, but they forced the door open.

“Then they took us [to jail] without any reason,” he added, according to news site Erasing 76 Crimes.

attends a session of the One Planet Summit on December 12, 2017, at La Seine Musicale venue on l'ile Seguin in Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris. The French President hosts 50 world leaders for the "One Planet Summit", hoping to jump-start the transition to a greener economy two years after the historic Paris agreement to limit climate change. / AFP PHOTO / LUDOVIC MARIN (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty)

The raid on the bar had echoes of a similar incident in 2016, when dozens of men were reportedly arrested in Mistral on suspicion of homosexuality after being trapped inside by officers.

After police carried out the raid on Saturday, they immediately moved on to a cinema often used by gay people in the area, arresting 18 moviegoers.

The 25 men who were arrested were then taken to the police station.

Soldiers of the 21st Motorized Infantry Brigade patrol in the streets of Buea, South-West Region of Cameroon on April 26, 2018. - A social crisis that began in November 2016 has turned into armed conflict since October 2017. Several small armed groups demand the independence of the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, bordering Nigeria. (Photo by ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP/Getty Images)

(ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP/Getty)

Police Commander Parfait Nana said that two people had been released because they were “witnesses.”

He promised: “The remaining 23 will be interrogated; conclusions will be reached at the close of the investigations.

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