Homosexuality and the Maputo Protocol in Cameroon. The Interpretation of the Protocol, Critical Appraisal of the Practice of Homosexuality, Problems and Possible Solutions

      Аннотация: Citizens often strive to ensure the respect, protection and promotion of their rights but these rights have limits when morality is concerned. The desire to have rights enforced often leads to conflicts between society and individual citizens. This book evaluates the manner in which these conflicts have taken place in recent years in Cameroon with respect to homosexuality and morality within the context of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Maputo Protocol). The book reveals that the Protocol does not legalise same-sex marriages. It equally illustrates that even though the United Nations passed a Resolution on the Universal Decriminalisation of Homosexuality, the practice remains an offence in Cameroon being contrary to the country’s established moral and legal values of heterosexuality. The book supports the Cameroonian position and recommends, inter alia, that the country should take more deterrent measures to discourage homosexuality. It equally entreats homosexuals to read Article 29(2) of the 1948 UDHR which highlights the primacy of public order and morality above individual rights and freedoms.

Ключевые слова: Human Rights, Homosexuality, Cameroon, Maputo Protocol, Law, Capacity to Marry, morality and society, Interpretation of Treaties