Dar es Salaam - Gay and
transgender people in Tanzania have gone into hiding fearing for
their lives after a senior government official called on the
public to report suspected homosexuals so that they could be
arrested from early next week.
Paul Makonda, regional commissioner for Tanzania's main
city of Dar es Salaam, announced the crackdown on Monday.
He
said a team would be set up to identify and arrest the "many
homosexuals", who could face up to 30 years in jail.
Makonda's announcement has sparked panic and fear among
thousands of LGBT+ people in the east African nation. Some said
they were too scared to go outside during the day, while others
had left their homes fearing imminent arrest.
"Since Monday, I have left my place and have been moving
here and there. I am always looking over my shoulder in case
they coming for me," Nathan, 24, told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation by phone from Dar es Salaam.
"There's so much tension within the gay community at the
moment. Not just in Dar, but all over the country. We are really
scared. We don't know what to do and where to go."
Gay sex is illegal in Tanzania, but the law is rarely
enforced. Homophobia and attacks and arrests on lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender people (LGBT+) have however risen since
President John Magufuli's election in 2015, activists say.
Even though the clampdown is set to begin on Monday, Nathan
said homes were already being raided in the port city and gay
people were arrested.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation could not
immediately confirm this.
"EVEN COWS" DISAPPROVE OF HOMOSEXUALITY
African countries have some of the most prohibitive
colonial-era laws against homosexuality in the world. Same-sex
relationships are seen as taboo and are a crime across most of
continent, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to death.
As a result, the persecution, discrimination and
exploitation of Africa's sexual minorities is rife, say
campaigners.
They are routinely abused, blackmailed, assaulted by mobs,
or raped by police or vigilantes. Many are unable to get jobs
due to their sexual identity - forcing them to sell sex through
social media sites.
Tanzania has had a reputation for being more tolerant than
its neighbour Uganda but, since Magufuli came to power three
years ago, campaigners say the little protection, representation
and freedom LGBT+ people have is being slowly eroded.
Civil society organisations supporting gay people have been
shut down and activists have been arrested. Authorities have
also suspended HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for gay men.
In June last year, Magufuli said that "even cows" disapprove
of homosexuality.
SCARED TO DEATH
Makonda told a news conference on Tuesday that he had
already received over 5 700 messages from the public - with over
100 names of suspected gays.
A 17-member committee is also being set up, he said, which
would tasked with identifying gay people on social media sites
such as Facebook and Twitter and arresting them.
Campaign group Equality Now said it was appalled and alarmed
by the crackdown - which also targets sex workers. It called on
the federal government to condemn Makonda's statement and to
enact laws and policies to protect the rights of all.
"People who are LGBT and in prostitution are already
frequently ostracised and face multiple levels of violence and
inequality," said Equality Now's Tsitsi Matekaire.
"Arresting them perpetuates this inequality, resulting in
further marginalisation and damage to their well being."
LGBT+ people in Tanzania said foreign donors must pressurise
the government to abandon the anti-gay campaign.
A previous crackdown on the LGBT+ community in 2016 was
abandoned by authorities, they said, as a result of widespread
condemnation by the international community.
They also called the United Nations to protect them by
providing them with safety in another country.
"I haven't left my house during the day for the last four
days. I am scared to death," said 19-year-old sex worker Michael
by phone from the northeastern city of Arusha.
"We have no one to protect us. We ask the United Nations and
other countries to help us to go somewhere else where we do not
have to hide in fear."