Tanzania targets gay rights activists
June 28, 2017
Tanzania has threatened to arrest and expel activists, as well as deregister all non-governmental organisations that campaign for gay rights.
Homosexuality is a criminal offence in the country, where the law states that suspects convicted of having “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” could face up to 30 years in jail.
Tanzania’s Home Affairs Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said both domestic and foreign campaigners for gay rights would now face punitive measures in the country.
“Those who want to campaign for gay rights should find another country that allows those things,” Nchemba said in the capital Dodoma.
“If we establish that any organisation registered in our country is campaigning for gay rights … I will deregister that organisation. If a Tanzanian national is doing that campaign, we will arrest him and take him to court … and if it is a foreigner, we will immediately order him to leave the country.”
The planned crackdown comes amid repeated warnings against “immoral behaviours” by President John Magufuli, who is nicknamed “the Bulldozer” for pushing through his policies.
